How long have you been working on the film?
I have been in production for ten years and that's a long time.  Seven of the people interviewed on camera and who were witnesses to the Mirabal story have died, most of old age.  It is time to have it air internationally before others go.

Who has been involved?
We first shot in the Dominican Republic with a very small crew. There was myself; director of photography/audio, Obeid Malikyar; associate producer, Angela Rumland; and Dominican director of photography, Jaime Gomez.   We followed in the sisters' footsteps: to their home in Salcedo (which is now called Hermanas Mirabal); their childhood home in Ojo de Agua; their convent school in La Vega; their husbands' place of imprisonment in Puerto Plata; Santo Domingo, where the women were also imprisoned; and the sugar cane field where they were assassinated.  We interviewed their family, friends, classmates, cellmates, co-revolutionaries, government officials, everyone of importance to the story. I interviewed over forty people across the country in a four-week period.

I heard you shot historical recreations. Is that so?
Yes, in 2003 I traveled to Cuba to shoot dramatic recreations. I employed a crew of 50 film professionals, and 100 actors. I hired Cuban director of photography Ivan Diaz; and production manager, Raonel Rodriguez. My associate producer was Chilean, Andrea Henriquez, and my assistant director was Ralf Oberti. The main roles were played by Cuban film and television stars. Many people ask me why I shot in Cuba.  The reply is that I have had almost no funding, and production costs in Cuba were low enough to allow me to shoot there with my tiny budget.

What part of the post-production are you working on now?
*** Jamie Godfrey, my present editor is putting finishing touches on the program, and she and my art director, Rodrigo Vera are working on the titles for the film.

*** Colombian Oscar nominated film star Catalina Sandino Moreno, who was nominated for an Oscar for her role in the feature "Mary Full of Grace", narrated the documentary. She donated her voice and talent to the Butterfies project. We recorded at Sountrax in Manhattan.

*** We also recorded the documentary music created by Dominican composer Angie del Riego, who also wrote lyrics for the theme song.  We did this at IASO Records with Ben de Menil, and a group of Dominican musicians, including lead guitarist Edilio Paredes.

So what´s next?
We are very near to completion. However, many crucial things still need to take place.  We need to color correct, a very expensive but critical process. We need to mix the audio so levels are smooth. We need to complete the graphics so we have an exciting and flowing title. We need to re-edit the show at high resolution. And we need to make a Spanish language version so we can distribute the documentary to the Spanish speaking audience.

Sounds like a awful lot. So will the documentary be done then?
I'm glad you asked because of course there is one more important step: promoting the documentary.  If no one hears about it, it won't get seen. Promotion and sending the program to film festivals is important because buyers and distributors go to these events and pick the programs they want to air in their own countries.  All this takes a lot of work and is expensive, but we're hoping we can fundraise enough to send the documentary all the way around the world.