Private Project

Here We Are

A group of young activists challenge the status quo through a citizen candidacy and win a deputation with less than 10% of what their opponents invest. Now, from inside and outside Congress, they will try to replicate the strategy to involve more people in the defense of democracy, human rights and the environment, and thus occupy the spaces of power where they face a conservative majority.

It is an intimate documentary, from the perspective of its creators, women who open the conversation on activism, political and social transformation, based on the analysis of the candidacy of this young lawyer, who achieved the impossible in the Dominican Republic. Through an analytical eye, this documentary will explore the complexity of Dominican politics, which are so similar to the complexities of the whole continent, so from this particular case, we will explore more universal subjects related to the politics in the whole region and the winds of change that are emerging. Could this case study of good politics inspire and empower young people around the world?

  • Violeta Lockhart
    Director
  • MinervasFilmRD
    Director
  • Virginia Antares
    Writer
  • Violeta Lockhart
    Writer
  • Alexandra Santana
    Writer
  • Saudde Cevallos
    Writer
  • Alexandra Santana
    Producer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Aquí Estamos
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 15 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    May 2, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    300,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Dominican Republic
  • Country of Filming:
    Dominican Republic
  • Language:
    Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Caribbean Cinemas Film Festival: Made in the Dominican Republic
    Santo Domingo
    Dominican Republic
    May 2, 2024
    Dominican Republic Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Dominican Film Festival (DFFNY)
    New York
    United States
    November 9, 2024
    North American Premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Violeta Lockhart, MinervasFilmRD

HERE WE ARE is a film by Minervas Producciones. It’s an all-female company created to promote the female gaze through films of social, cultural, and political values. This documentary is our first feature and the one with which our production house emerged. This team is composed by:

VIOLETA LOCKHART - Co-writer and Director. Dominican-Spanish film director and a violinist. She was selected for the first Master Class with young filmmakers sponsored by Google and Ghetto Film School, taught by Spike Jonze. He has written and directed the short films "Cara // Escudo", "I Will not Do the Dishes", "Rosa" and "What Could Have Been". Violeta has a MA in Scriptwriting, Narrative and Audiovisual Creativity from the University of Seville and a MA in Film Fiction Direction from ESCAC, in Barcelona.

ALEXANDRA SANTANA. Co-Writer and Producer. Dominican film producer specialized in Distribution. She is co-founder and creative producer @minervasfilmrd. In 2022, she was selected for the Guadalajara Talents, in the production section, and for the Locarno Match Me programme. She’s currently producing the features Under The Same Sun, a coproduction with Spain (in the postproduction stage) and Without a Name, a coproduction with France, Mexico and Venezuela that was selected at La Fabrique in 2020, and secured the Ibermedia Development and Coproduction Funds. It’s in preproduction at the moment.

VIRGINIA ANTARES - Co-writer and research. Journalist and educator with a master's degree in Environment and Development Policy from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom, and more than ten years of professional experience in the areas of communication, development and social, political and environmental activism. She founded the educational channel La Guía Política, which produces educational videos about Dominican politics and history. Candidate for the presidency of the Dominican Republic for the Democratic Option party in 2024

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

HERE WE ARE is a film by Minervas Producciones (@MinervasFilmRD). It’s an all-female company created to promote the female gaze through films of social, cultural, and political values. This documentary is our first feature and the one with which our production house emerged.
We’re activists, and this documentary proposes to review and understand the established system and the persistent barriers (institutional, cultural, psychological, and economic) that keep most people away from political participation. It sparks a conversation about the necessary transformations at the local level that also opens the discussion about reality in other Latin American contexts, where unequal and corrupt systems persist.

This film project documents the new voices and the challenges they face in preparing for their candidacies. It questions the electoral system that doesn’t set limits and regulations on the money that can be spent on campaigns to make political participation more accessible for a new generation and calls attention to the lack of women's representation. For instance, only 28% of Congress is occupied by a woman, and only 3 of the 22 ministries are led by a woman.

The Jose Horacio Triumph inspired a new generation of committed young Dominicans who have come to understand that the only way to realise their demands is by occupying more seats in the government.