"...a deft blend of the intimate and the political that recalls the fire-in-the-belly feistiness of early Spike Lee joints." Screen International

Sundance Film Festival
IndieLisboa International Film Festival
BFI Flare

In writer-director Patricia Vidal Delgado's debut feature, a soon-to-be undocumented teenager fights for her right to stay in America while risking her family, her friendships, and her first love. Newcomer Monica Betancourt, delivers a powerful performance as Aleteia, a politically conscious student fighting against Trump's policies as part of an activist group, while also navigating adolescence, a new school, a burgeoning romance and the multiple challenges that face an immigrant. Original, provocative and authentic, La Leyenda Negra is an insightful coming-of-age drama.

USA - 2020 - 1h 23m
Directed By: Patricia Vidal Delgado
Written By: Patricia Vidal Delgado
Starring: Monica Betancourt, Kailei Lopez, Irlanda Moreno, Maria Jose Fernandez

Director Biography - Patricia Vidal Delgado

Patricia Vidal Delgado is a Sundance Institute FilmTwo Fellow and an MTV First Time Directors Initiative Finalist. ‘La Leyenda Negra’, her feature film debut, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in the NEXT category and streamed on HBO MAX. The film was a Top 20 Finalist for the Roy W. Dean Grant and was awarded the Frameline Completion Fund in February 2020. The 2021 Film Independent Spirit Awards nominated the film for the John Cassavetes Award and the GLAAD Media Awards also nominated the film for Outstanding TV Movie. Patricia is the writer and director of short films ‘Bué Sabi’, ‘Isa’, ‘Ico’, ’88’, ‘The Hood’ and ‘Caroline’. Her work has screened at both national and international film festivals including the Raindance Film Festival, TIFF Next Wave, Philadelphia Film Festival, Curtas Vila do Conde and the IndieLisboa International Film Festival. To date, Delgado’s films have garnered a total of 24 wins and 81 nominations.