Moriano: A Legacy of Freedom
| Moriano: A Legacy of Freedom | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Camla Sosa |
| Written by | |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Lucília Mendez |
| Edited by | Teresinha Barreto |
| Music by | Lygia Furtado |
Release dates |
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Running time | 165 minutes |
| Country | Vitosium |
| Language | English |
Moriano: A Legacy of Freedom is a 2021 Vitosian documentary directed by Camla Sosa. The documentary tells the story of Margaret Jane Moriano and her journey to becoming the first female Prime Minister, as well as her impact on women's rights in the nation.
Synopsis
Margaret Jane Moriano was born on May 2nd, 1922 (as Margaret Jane Barrett) in the town of Gerapetra, Amozelo. Her father, Lawrence Barrett, was the owner of an oil factory while her mother, Sally Barrett, was a waitress at a local diner. Sally would tell a young Maggie a fantastic lullaby every night to help keep her motivated. Despite the happy marriage Sally would present to young Maggie, who is an only child, she would write her true feelings in her diary every night about feeling trapped with Lawrence and wanting to raise Maggie right. When Maggie turned ten, things changed and her parents would openly argue in front of her with Sally accusing Lawrence of misogyny and having no respect to her or other women.
"Home was barely home to me anymore," Moriano says in an interview for the documentary. "Lawrence and my mom would fight almost every night. There were some nights that he would beat her."
In 1934, when Maggie was 12, a drunken Lawrence attempted to kill Sally one night. She would take Maggie with her and head to her sister's place across town. Staying with Aunt Sandra brought a period of peace, at least for young Maggie, as her mom filed for divorce and brought his murder attempt to court. Lawrence was arrested and the divorce was finalized, allowing Sally to have a new start in life. She told Maggie to never let any man walk all over her and to always stand up for herself.
"That is when I started to advocate for women's rights," stated Moriano. "A waitress named Nadia Branco began to organize a women's rights march and that is when I knew that I could help change the world. I participated under 'Maggie Moriano' so I wasn't associated with Lawrence."
Nadia loved young Maggie's energy, leading the former waitress to meet Sally Moriano, who had recently changed her name back. Together, they participated in the march and many times a year, the three of them would organize marches, although the government would never give in to their demands. In 1942, when she was 20, she gave a now-famous televised speech in front of congress following the death of her mother.
"You all know me as Maggie Moriano. I was born Margaret Jane Barrett to an amazing mother and a deadbeat criminal "father". Lawrence Albert Barrett was arrested for trying to kill my mom, Sally Moriano. For years, I watched them fight and, for years, I watched him beat her until that fateful day. I choose to fight so that men like him no longer dictate OUR lives. Men like him should not have a say in how WE should live our lives."
"I was so angry that day," Moriano told the cameras in another interview for the documentary. "The government didn't do a single thing to help and, as time went by, our voices grew louder as a result. It wasn't until two years after that speech when I met Sherman Salantino."
Sherman Salantino, a senator, famously joined one of Moriano's marches for women's rights. Despite being a man, he also wished for the betterment of women. This led the two to a growing friendship and, eventually, a relationship. The relationship was only brief, though, and they decided to remain friends. It was around this time that he introduced a friend of his to her, Senator Maxwell Douglas Tellend. In 1947, Salantino announced that he was running for Prime Minister and only one year later, he surprised the nation by announcing his Deputy Prime Minister would be ... Maggie Moriano.
"I remember the night he asked me," Moriano reminisced. "He called me to his office and said, 'Maggie, I want to help the women of this great nation in any way that I can. That is why I want you to become my Deputy in this'. I was shocked and didn't know how to react. Three days later, I told him that I wanted to be Deputy so badly and that is when he made the announcement."
There was outrage among some parts of the country due to this. While women have been allowed to vote for twenty years, no woman tried to lead the country due to the onslaught of men ready to discourage their efforts. That was, until Maggie Moriano proudly represented the women in the beginning of her political career. They barely beat their closest opponent by 3%, making Salantino and Moriano, the 22nd Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, respectively in 1948. In 1950, Salantino passed a policy that allowed women to vote even with their maiden name, something that was oddly illegal beforehand. He praised Moriano's insight and contribution which lead to the policy. The next year, Salantino would pass another policy allowing women to legally change their name despite being married, which lead to Maggie changing her last name from Barrett to Moriano. It was around this time that Lawrence Barrett was released from prison. He would try and cause riots and even tried to kill his own daughter, which would be stopped by famous director, Ambrose Montas Jr., who took a bullet for her. Barrett's arrest would later see his death a few months later. Seven months following that event, she would get married to Max Tellend.
Two years later, in 1952, Salantino and Moriano would win a second term. While he also tried to build the economy and continue to promote women's rights, the riots grew more violent. In 1954, Salantino would raise the gender pay from 75:25 to 68:32. This policy would result in a riot that led to the assassination of Sherman Salantino. During the emergency election, Moriano would win by 6%. In the three months following her election, she would manage to use the World War to lead Vitosium on a better path, using the consequences of war to prevent anymore within the nation. This allowed many, even some of her non-believers, to root for her success. The next year, in 1955, she would have the gender pay changed from 70:30 to 58:42. Her husband, Max Tellend, would also quit as a senator and pursued a career in real estate development. While she would only serve one term before stepping down during the election, she did manage to boost the economy, forever being known as one of the greatest Prime Ministers in the history of Vitosium.
"I chose not to pursue a second term due to the amount of stress I had gone through to get things done," Moriano stated. "It was not easy to get those policies through. There were so many attempts to block every single policy I put forth. I wish I could have done more but I was just so glad that 40% of the policies went through. When the election was happening again, I announced that I was stepping down. I did what I could and needed to rest before it killed me."
Around this time, Max Tellend began his own company after working for a real estate developing company for a couple years. By this time, the two of them had three daughters, Rosita, Ranelda and Giorgia-Rose, born in 1952, 1956 and 1957 respectively. Her impact helped shaped women's rights in the nation forever with two more women becoming Prime Minister since then and further shaping the rights.
It is noted that each of the each of the seven Tellend children would become very successful in their own right with Max Tellend, the patriarch of the family, making a total of $5.2 billion before his passing in 2013. As of the filming of the documentary, Maggie Moriano is still alive today at the age of 99.