Doc World

¡Las Sandinistas!

By Jenny Murray. A co-production of MCRM Productions, LLC and Independent Television Service.

Meet the women who shattered barriers to lead combat and social reform during Nicaragua’s 1979 Sandinista Revolution. The film is centered around the personal stories of Dora Maria Téllez, the young medical student who became a major Sandinista General, and four of her revolutionary allies. Together, these Nicaraguan women overcame traditional gender barriers and subverted stereotypes to lead rebel troops in 1979’s Sandinista Revolution, and then reshaped their country with landmark social reforms.

¡LAS SANDINISTAS! exposes a watershed moment in history when thousands of women transformed their society’s definition of womanhood and leadership before facing renewed marginalization by their male peers after the wars ended. Now, 35 years later, amidst staggering levels of violence against women in Nicaragua their stories are being erased from the history books. Undaunted, these same women brave the streets, once again, to lead popular movements for equality and democracy.