Rosita

Many people don’t think a 9-year-old girl can become pregnant. But in 2003, the rape and pregnancy of 9-year-old Rosa was front-page news across Latin America. Rosa is the only child of Maria and Francisco, Nicaraguan campesinos working in Costa Rica as coffee pickers.When Rosa is raped a neighbor is arrested, but Rosa is pregnant and infected with venereal disease.Rosita is the story of this young family’s battle to help their daughter. In Costa Rica – where Rosa is initially held in a hospital – and in their homeland Nicaragua, abortion is illegal.With growing public sympathy, their quest to end Rosa’s pregnancy pits them against the Costa Rican and the Nicaraguan governments,the medical establishment, and the church. The filmmakers combine Rosa’s words with animation of her drawings to recreate the family’s journey, without violating the parents’ wish that her face not be shown.