Dominican Director José María Cabral Brings Dark Comedy 'Sh*t Happens' to Tallinn Competition

Dominican filmmaker José María Cabral, a three-time Oscar submission director and the first from his country selected for Sundance with 2017's "Woodpeckers," is premiering his first dark comedy at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. The film, titled "Sh*t Happens," marks a tonal departure for Cabral, embracing an Almodóvar-esque sensibility to explore social divides.

The narrative centers on a Dominican household where a literal sanitation crisis becomes a metaphor for entrenched class structures, dependency, and power dynamics. Cabral describes the project as an examination of how these forces play out within a domestic microcosm, using dark humor to expose uncomfortable truths about inequality.

International sales agency Latido Films has acquired worldwide rights to the feature ahead of its festival bow. The pickup positions the film for broader global distribution following its competition screening in Estonia, continuing Cabral's trajectory as a leading voice in Caribbean cinema.

This brief draws on reporting from Variety.