Santo Domingo, August 25, 2009

The activity was called by the Board of the Festival,  an initiative of FUNGLODE and its sister
institution in the United States  Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) . Films in this year's Festival will be shown in four cities around the Dominican Republic: Santo Domingo,
Santiago, Nagua and Puerto Plata.

Those who answered the call for volunteers included many who were volunteers last year. Some of them spoke to the meeting and told the others about the experience and why they enjoyed it enough to return as volunteers again.  

The meeting was conducted by Yamile Eusebio, the Festival's Director of Planning, Development and Marketing. Boni Guerrero and Victor  Villanueva also spoke at the meeting, in their capacities as Volunteer Coordinators. They were joined by Marielly Gallardo, a member of the  FUNGLODE team. 

In order to better illustrate what it meant to be a volunteer, organizers presented a slide show about the main characteristics required to do the job and those that would contradict the nature of the work.

Some who spoke offered suggestions on which aspects and actions the Festival's organizers could take to improve the quality of the event which is growing in intensity, professionalism and quality with each passing year.

Last year, more than 200 volunteers worked with the Festival. In addition to the high quality work that remained dedicated to the theme, “Global Issues, Personal Stories,” the Festival held 17 panels, master classes and workshops given by professionals and Dominican film industry enthusiasts.  

To liven up the Festival even more this year, the organizers have decided to include a new section: short film competition. The final day for short film entries wishing to compete is September 18. Dominican participants can present their work in either fiction, animation, documentary or fantasy category.

The Dominican Global Film Festival seeks to increase knowledge and deepen understanding of global issues through stories about situations and people who have affected of our world and lives.
In addition, it seeks to reinforce an appreciation for art, raise consciousness about global issues, offer training in areas linked to film production and support the economic, social and democratic development of the country.

The festival aspires to play a leadership role in the consolidation and enrichment of film in the Dominican Republic and to help it reach a wide variety of audiences.