The award-winning Puerto Rican drama Angélica by Marisol Gómez-Mouakad will get a virtual release in major markets including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago on August 20 via ArtMattan Films. The virtual release will be followed by a digital and home-video release.

Angélica is a psychological drama that exposes the implications of racism and sexism upon the family and individual, reflecting upon how the oppressive nature of both racism and sexism, affects family relations and the individual.

Angelica, after a long absence from Puerto Rico, returns home when her father, Wilfredo, suffers a stroke. This unexpected return and her father’s illness force Angelica to re-evaluate her relationship with her mother and family members who don’t accept her because of her skin color. She must face herself and discovers that she does not know who she is. After her father’s death, Angelica must decide whether to return to the comfort of her previous life, dissatisfied, but secure, or set on an adventurous path to rediscover herself as an independent, modern, strong, black, and Puerto Rican woman.

“People talk about racism and sexism in the U.S.,” director Gómez-Mouakad explains. “They may not do much, but in talking about it they are at least addressing the problem. In Puerto Rico — and across the Caribbean and Latin America — there is a lot of denial. If you do talk about the issues, you are accused of being over sensitive. But words have power and words can hurt.”

Watch the trailer for Angélica.

Marisol is a Puerto Rican filmmaker and painter who completed a Masters at the New School in New York. She also participated in various screenwriting and acting workshops. She was selected to participate in IFP Project Involve workshops in the spring of 2005 and Talent Campus Guadalajara in 2009. Her first and second short film, Rosa and Lazos respectively, have premiered in various international film festivals. Angelica is her first feature film.