Experiencing Interruptions?

That´s Why I Come to The River (Por Eso Vengo al Río)

Summer of 1982, Sintia flees from the economic crisis of the Dominican Republic to the Middle East, looking for better opportunities of life. While she works, and despite the cultural and language barriers she meets Bashir, the love of her life with whom she marries and procreates her son Ghassan. Once together, despite the countless attacks in Syria, his family manages to survive in the midst of the bloodiest war in history, with a high price, they get separated. 33 years later, Sintia returns to the Dominican Republic in order to reunite, but it becomes increasingly difficult for her to obtain the necessary papers for her husband and son. Sintia is now residing in the Dominican Republic, Bashir in Syria, and Ghassan in Lebanon, she will not rest until her family is reunited again.

  • Fernando Blanco
    Director
  • Fernando Blanco
    Writer
  • Ramón Alfonso Peña
    Writer
  • Alberto Ponce
    Writer
  • Alexander De La Rosa
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Family, Drama, Inmigration, War
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 17 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    September 1, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    200,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Dominican Republic
  • Country of Filming:
    Dominican Republic, Lebanon, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey
  • Language:
    Arabic, English, Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Trinidad + Tobago Film Festival
    Port of Spain
    Trinidad and Tobago
    September 27, 2022
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
  • International Films Festival of Panama - IFF Panama
    Panama
    Panama
    Cariben Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Domincian Film Festival in New York
    New York
    United States
    US Premiere
    Winer Best Documentary
Director Biography - Fernando Blanco

Fernando Blanco was born in the Dominican Republic in 1989. He is a producer, writer and director. He studied cinema at the UASD Film School (Dominican Republic), and obtained a Master's degree in "Screenplay, Narrative and Audiovisual Creativity" at the University of Seville in Spain. His work includes short films that have won several international awards such as Lealtad Nocturna (2010), El Delivery (2013) and Un Día de Suerte (2014), the latter being an Official Selection at the Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival in 2014.
Director and Producer of Por Eso Vengo al Río (2022), his Opera Prima Documentary Feature Film, with a powerful theme that addresses the Middle East from a human and Latin point of view of a married couple strongly in love. This work in the development stage was the winner of the Primera Mirada WIP session at the Panama International Film Festival, as a promise of Latin American cinema.

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Director Statement

With a wonderful team, we have more than 4 years developing this documentary project, with which we portray part of the life of Sintia, a Dominican woman who lived for more than 30 years between Lebanon and Syria, and who along with her family is a survivor of several attacks in the Syrian city of Aleppo. Beyond what we usually see in the news, this story delves into human bonds, this film tells us about romantic and true love.

As a director and as a human being, directing this documentary has been a highly enriching experience. With Bashir Al Sankary and Sintia Then, we had the opportunity to meet authentically human characters that make our film take on a universal dimension. Through them, we know a beautiful story of family unity against the backdrop of a war situation.

With "Por Eso Vengo al Río" We traveled to each of the countries that have had an impact on the lives of our characters, accompanying them with a proposal of the camera in hand to capture the essence of their realities at all times, and achieve transmitting to the big screen this story, with a careful cinematographic style.