Ramona

About one in five teenage girls in the Dominican Republic is a mother. This is the subject of the fictional film Ramona that a filmmaker and an actress want to make together. But the actress finds it hard to relate to her pregnant, 15-year-old character, and decides to talk to teenage girls who actually are pregnant.

Initially, the interviews reveal just how challenging it is to break the cycle of teenage pregnancy, but the conversations progress to become an organic exchange. The girls not only tell their stories, but also give their opinions on the type of clothing and makeup the film character should wear, and discuss the credibility of scenes.

The girls talk about how they sometimes stopped playing at the age of eight or ten to cook and care for the men in the house. The filming process gives them a renewed opportunity to play. To take control of their story through fiction. To take control of the scenes from their own lives—and sometimes to rewrite them just a little.