In the Time of the Butterflies is a 2001 feature film, produced for the Showtime television network, directed by Mariano Barroso and based on Julia Álvarez's book of the same name. The story is a fictionalized account of the lives of the Mirabal sisters, Dominican revolutionary activists, who opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo and were assassinated on November 25, 1960. In the film, Salma Hayek played one of the sisters, Minerva, and Edward James Olmos plays Trujillo. Marc Anthony has a minor role as Minerva's first love, and the impetus for her later revolutionary activities. Plot The film begins with pictures and video of the actual victims of Trujillo. During the montage, a title card appears that says: From 1930 to 1961, General Rafael Leónidas Trujillo held absolute control of the Dominican Republic. His secret alliance with the church, aristocrats, intellectuals and the press were the foundation of his dictatorship. His formula to remain in power was simple: murder anyone who opposed him. More than 30,000 people were executed during his regime of terror... The scene shifts to a prison cell, where one of his victims, Minerva Mirabal (Salma Hayek), recounts the events of the story. Minerva and her three sisters, Patria (Lumi Cavazos), Dedé (Pilar Padilla), and María Teresa "Maté" (Mía Maestro), live on a farm in rural Ojo De Agua. Minerva, the outspoken sister, convinces her father, Enrique Mirabal (Fernando Becerril), to send her, Patria, and Maté to a boarding school. The sisters spend five years away at school, during which time Minerva captures the attention of Trujillo (Edward James Olmos), who notices her at a school play. When school is over, Minerva wishes to study to become a lawyer, but women are not allowed in law school. The sisters return to the farm, and Minerva soon meets and falls in love with Virgilio "Lio" (Marc Anthony), a member of the Dominican resistance, who gives her the nickname "Butterfly", or Mariposa in Spanish. Lio's activities during a college protest are noticed, and he is forced to leave the country out of fear for his life, though he continues to write to Minerva. Minerva, along with her family, is invited to a formal ball at Trujillo's palace, where she dances with him. During their dance, Minerva asks for permission to attend law school, but Trujillo declines. He grabs Minerva inappropriately, and she responds by recoiling and slapping him