The Dominican Republic has selected Melodrama, the latest feature by Dominican filmmaker Andrés Farías, as its official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards, becoming the first Latin American country to announce its entry for the 2027 Oscars. The selection was made by the Dominican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences (ACCINE RD) through its Film Selection Academic Committee.
Produced by Lantica Studios and Rafael Elías Muñoz, Melodrama marks Farías’ second feature following his 2021 debut Candela. Written by Julia Scrive-Loyer, Rey Andújar, and Farías, the film stars Mercedes Morales, Haitian actor Jimmy Jean-Louis, Sarah Jorge León, Cyndie Lundy, Pachy Méndez, and Adriana Zayas.
Melodrama centers on Sonia (Morales), a recently widowed Dominican woman who is forced to sell the home where she has spent much of her life and move into a small apartment overlooking the Caribbean Sea. Struggling with grief and the upheaval of her new circumstances, Sonia meets Aimé (Jean-Louis), a Haitian construction worker employed at a neighboring building. An unexpected romance develops between them, challenging social, racial, and class prejudices while unfolding against the fraught relationship between the Dominican Republic and its Haitian population.
The film’s festival run has included screenings at the Havana Film Festival in Cuba, the Miami Film Festival, where it had its U.S. premiere, and the Chicago Latino Film Festival. Most recently, Melodrama was a major winner at the 2026 Dominican Film Festival in New York, taking Best Film, Best Director for Farías, and Best Actress for Morales. With Melodrama, the filmmaker continues his exploration of contemporary Dominican society, using an intimate story of grief, desire, and the possibility of love later in life to confront broader questions of race, class, migration, and belonging.
