Experiencing Interruptions?

MANNA

In a forgotten Caribbean seaside town, Terrero carries a secret that weighs as much as his dreams. Between the promise of escape and the pull of his reality, he faces a choice that could alter everything.

  • Francisco Rojas
    Director
  • Ramón Alfonso Peña
    Writer
  • Robelitza Pérez
    Producer
  • Francisco Rojas
    Producer
  • Miriam Ouchi
    Producer
  • José El Cuervo Mercedes
    Key Cast
    "Terrero"
  • Leska Lindor
    Key Cast
    "Yaya"
  • Ruauri Rhodes
    Key Cast
    "Mark"
  • Olga Valdéz
    Key Cast
    "Christine"
  • Iván Kirayakov
    Key Cast
    "Noah"
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    El Maná
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    16 minutes 57 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 1, 2026
  • Production Budget:
    16,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Dominican Republic
  • Country of Filming:
    Dominican Republic
  • Language:
    English, Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Francisco Rojas

Francisco Rojas is a multidisciplinary Dominican artist; an architect, painter, photographer, and independent filmmaker who has garnered several international awards for his short films RUN and BEFORE SLEEPING. In 2022, he won the FONPROCINE Public Competition, organized by the Dominican Republic's General Directorate of Cinema, in the categories of Fiction Short Film Production and Animated Short Film Production.

BLACK NIGHT
(Short film, animation, 5 minutes, 2013) / Director, Producer, and Screenwriter.

* Official Selection, TRINIDAD+TOBAGO FILM FESTIVAL 2014, Trinidad & Tobago.

* Out of Competition Selection, "International Animation Film Festival Golden Kuker -- Sofia
2014", Bulgaria.

RUN
(Short film, fiction, 3 minutes, 2017) / Director and Screenwriter.

Awards:
* Jury Prize for Best Fiction Short Film, XXIV Cine ECO SEIA Film Festival, Portugal.

* Jury Prize for Best Fiction Short Film, XI Ecozine International Film Festival, Spain.

* Finalist, We Art Water 4 Film Festival, Spain.

* Special Recognition, Water Minute Festival 2017, Dominican Republic.

* Finalist, Green - Go Short Film Contest 2017.

BEFORE SLEEPING
(Short film, fiction, 3 minutes, 2019) / Director and Screenwriter.

Awards:
* Jury Prize for Best Short Film, Trata Minute Festival 2019, Dominican Republic.

* Special Mention, ABC Critics' Award for Best Short Film Not Yet Released in Spain, FIBABC 2019, Spain.

MANNA
(Short film, fiction, 17 minutes, 2026) / Director and Producer.

TENEBRAS
(Short film, animation, 6 minutes, 2026) / Director, Producer and Screenwriter. Annecy Film Fest, Chilemonos 2026

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Director Statement

I grew up in the south of the Dominican Republic, a region that has profoundly shaped the way I see the world. While dreaming of becoming a filmmaker, I was constantly surrounded by stories that rarely found their way to the screen. I often wondered why landscapes so familiar to me, and the people who inhabited them, remained almost invisible in cinema.

When my friend and cinematographer Miriam Ouchi shared the idea of a story set in a coastal town in the south, I immediately felt a personal connection. Filming in Baní confirmed what had drawn me there from the beginning. It is a place of striking contrasts: the vastness of the sea, dry roads, and open plains exist alongside a dense, restless town where daily life unfolds under constant economic pressure. That landscape became inseparable from Terrero's inner world.

What interests me is not the spectacle of poverty or the drama of migration, but the quiet moments that precede a life-changing decision. I explore gestures, routines, silences, and to the emotional tension that accumulates almost imperceptibly. In El Maná, the landscape is not simply observed; it becomes another character, reflecting the contradictions that shape Terrero's life.

Through an observational approach and a specific visual language, I hope to portray a reality that is deeply rooted in the Dominican Republic yet resonates far beyond its borders. More than telling the story of one man, El Maná seeks to inhabit a place, its rhythms, and the fragile space between endurance and the possibility of change.