EXCEPTIONAL SLATE OF FILMS HIGHLIGHTS INAUGURAL DOMINICAN REPUBLIC GLOBAL FILM FESTIVAL

The First Annual Dominican Republic Global Film Festival Will Take Place November 8 – 12.
New York, NY, October 21st, 2006

The Dominican Republic Global Film Festival, announced an impressive list of films to be included in its inaugural program, which will run from November 8th to 12th. The Dominican Republic Global Film Festival (DRGFF) brings the best dramatic and documentary world cinema to the Dominican Republic, plays a leading role in nurturing and enriching its film culture, and brings cinema to a broad variety of audiences.

The Festival whose focus is GLOBAL ISSUES, PERSONAL STORIES, is held under the auspices of the Dominican Republic’s President Leonel Fernandez’ charitable foundation, FUNGLODE, Fundación Global Democracia y Desarollo, (The Foundation for Global Democracy and Development). The Foundation is devoted to problems of democratization and development, and to the interchange of ideas which promote these goals.

Included in this year’s festival will be the critically acclaimed films “Babel,” “Bamako,” “Good Night, And Good Luck,” “Crónicas de una Fuga,” “An Inconvenient Truth,” “The Last King of Scotland,” “The Lost City,” “Mad Hot Ballroom,” “Maquilapolis,” “The Refugees All Stars,” “The Republic of Baseball,” Secuestro Expresso, “Tsotsi,” “Vete y Vive,” “El Violin,” “Volver,” and “Water,” as announced by Nicole Guillemet, programming and festival consultant.

Notables attending the festival are Andy Garcia, Enrique Murciano, Joseph Drago, Steven Bauer, Nestor Carbonell, Juan Fernandez, Dominik García-Lorido, Esther Garcia, Lola Dueñas, Adriana Barraza, Israel Caetano, Guillermo Navarro, Maji-da Abdi, Radu Milhaineanu, Yomaira Reynoso, Sergio de la Torre, Dan Manatt, Zach Niles, Banker White, Sandra Condito, Elisabeth Avellan, Francisco Vargas, Kathryn Galan, Debra Zimmerman, Ivette Rodriguez, Antonio Sosa, Julio Noriega, Sandra Condito, Elizabeth Avellan, Genna Terranova, Julio Caro, Kathryn Washington, Bienvenida Matías, Natalia Almada, and Guillermo Navarro.

"The Global Film Festival will present an eclectic program of dramatic and documentary films with a broad range of esthetic treatment and point of view. The mission of the festival is both to entertain and to showcase films with a conscience: films which enhance awareness of social problems and promote constructive, democratic change -- or a change in the way one views the word and lives one's life. This year's selection directly speaks to our mission of bringing people together for a week of film-going and dialogue" said Guillemet.

For additional information on the films and festival panels please refer to the end of the release.

For additional information on the films and festival panels please refer to the end of the release.