Peanuts Entertainment Launches in London With Mirabal Sisters Film

A new London-based production company dedicated to "culturally rooted Latin American stories for international audiences" has launched with a Spanish-language feature about the Mirabal Sisters, the Dominican heroines murdered under the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo.

Peanuts Entertainment is the creation of Dominican actor-filmmaker Amílcar Franco, a graduate of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Franco will next appear on screen in Gareth Evans' "A Colt Is My Passport" for Amazon MGM Studios and Orion Pictures. Through Peanuts, he intends to build a slate of productions linking the U.K., Latin America and the Caribbean.

The company's flagship project is "Alive in Their Garden," a period drama inspired by the legacy of the Mirabal Sisters, who opposed Trujillo's brutal regime in the Dominican Republic. Three of the sisters were assassinated in 1960, an act that turned them into national heroines and enduring symbols of both popular and feminist resistance.

The film was developed in collaboration with Minou Tavárez Mirabal and Jaqueline Guzmán Mirabal, alongside the Mirabal Sisters House Museum. The project launches during the centenary year of Minerva Mirabal.

During development, Franco worked closely with the two Mirabal family members, conducting research at the museum and at Fortaleza San Felipe in Puerto Plata. The filmmaking team gained access to archival photographs, historical documentation and personal artefacts connected to the sisters. Among the materials were original garments, accessories and handbags linked to their final journey on 25 November 1960 — a date later recognised by the United Nations as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Peanuts Entertainment shot "Alive in Their Garden" entirely on 16mm, with support from Kodak and Harbor. The company describes the choice as part of its "commitment to a celluloid-first production model." The San Felipe Fort was recreated in Central London during winter by a creative team led by a female cinematographer, editor and production designer.

Emmy-winning casting director Olissa Rogers, whose credits include "Wednesday" and "Ted Lasso," oversaw casting. The international ensemble features Karl Queensborough, known for "Hamilton" in the West End, alongside performers from Spain, Argentina and the Dominican Republic.

The company's inaugural slate extends beyond the Mirabal project. Its first completed production is "The Peanut Vendors," a feature revisiting the legacy of the iconic Cuban song "El Manisero." The film features narration by three-time Olivier Award winner Alex Jennings, vocals by Grammy-nominated performer Christine Allado and a new arrangement by Marcin Mazurek, composer of the BAFTA-winning short "Rock, Paper and Scissors."

With family-sanctioned access to the Mirabal archive and a debut slate spanning the Dominican Republic and Cuba, Peanuts Entertainment enters a competitive U.K. production market betting that Latin American history, shot on celluloid, can find international buyers.