''Exiled'' () is a 2019

Nicaraguan Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America after Guatemala and ...

documentary film directed by Leonor Zúniga. The film features interviews with Zoilamérica Ortega Murillo, stepdaughter of the leader of the

Sandinista Revolution The Nicaraguan Revolution () began with rising opposition to the Somoza dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s, the ouster of the dictatorship in 1978–79, and fighting between the government and the Contras from 1981 to 1990. The revolution r ...

and Nicaraguan President

Daniel Ortega José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (; ; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguan politician and dictator who has been the president of Nicaragua, co-president of Nicaragua since 18 February 2025, alongside his wife Rosario Murillo. He was the 54th an ...

. In 1998 she accused him of sexually abusing her as a child; almost twenty years later, she lives in exile in

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

with her ten-year old son. The film takes place during Ortega's

electoral campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referen ...

, as he seeks reelection and reaching power for the fourth time, and develops in two periods: the past, using archive footage when Zoilamérica made her accusation in 1998, and the present, in 2016, after being forced to live in exile.

Production

Zúniga wrestled with making the film, as it risked the possibility that she would also have to go into

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

. Ultimately she shot the film in secret in Costa Rica, using a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

to refer to Murillo during production.

Reception

The film was part of the Official Selection of the 2019 Hot Docs Festival. In ''La Prensa'',

Cristiana Chamorro Barrios Cristiana Chamorro Barrios (born 25 February 1954) is a Nicaraguan journalist, nonprofit executive and political candidate. Vice-president of '' La Prensa'', she was an aspiring presidential candidate in the 2021 Nicaraguan general election un ...

wrote that Zúniga “in a magical way, shows with art, there can be beauty in a dark tragedy. Her cameras manage to captivate us in a sordid story where the harshness of the events is told with the grace to get away from the morbid to give the victim dignity without revictimizing her.”

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website

at Film Affinity 2019 films 2019 documentary films Child sexual abuse in Nicaragua Documentary films about women Documentary films about violence against women Nicaraguan documentary films