Coming-of-Age Horror Pic ‘No Salgas’ (‘Stay Quiet’) Haunts EFM

Here’s your first look at Dominican drama No Salgas (Stay Quiet), a queer coming-of-age horror film starring Cecile van Welie as Liz, a college Medical student struggling with her sexual identity in a highly conservative Dominican Republic.

In the film, an evil supernatural force begins targeting people close to her, including Camila Issa (from Nickelodeon’s Are You Afraid of the Dark?) and Camila Santana (Ramona).

“The story begins with two teens fleeing into the night, where one is killed by her possessed mother. Liz secretly loves Wendy, who is murdered by her crazed brother. A year later, grief and desire resurface on a memorial trip as the force turns friends violent. Liz escapes, knowing that whatever was unleashed has not been fully crushed.”

Variety reports that Berlin-based ArtHood Entertainment has picked up worldwide sales rights to the film ahead of its Berlinale Generation premiere and shared the very first photo.

The site notes that No salgas marks the directorial fiction feature debut for Victoria Linares, known for her neo-realist docu-fiction hybrid, Ramona, which also world premiered at the Berlinale’s Generation sidebar. It went on to win the Grand Prix Documentaire at Cinélatino 2024 and land at indie streaming platform Mubi.

“The dynamics of coexistence and power have always favored a heteronormative society. The Dominican Republic is highly conservative, which only highlights the inadequacy of the concept of an ‘ally,’ an idea that in ‘No salgas’ is more performative than supportive, and often does not stem from genuine understanding, but from reflexive tolerance,” said Linares in her director’s statement. “The ally can be understanding and, at the same time, contribute, out of ignorance, to oppressive social environments.”