Over the course of this 4-day, world film extravaganza taking place in five different cities around the country - Santo Domingo, Santiago, Puerto Plata, Nagua, and CapCana - viewers can choose from 30 documentaries and feature films in addition to nine panels, workshops and master classes.

New York, October 19, 2009

The III edition of the Dominican Republic Global Film Festival is once again preparing to bring world-class films - 30 feature films and documentaries - to the Dominican public. The Festival begins Wednesday November 18 and runs until Sunday November 22nd.

Five venues - Santo Domingo, Santiago, Puerto Plata, Nagua, and CapCana - and eight movie screens will host the Dominican Republic Global Film Festival (DRGFF), the Festival’s organizing committee announced on Monday, November 19th.

Yamile Eusebio, Director of Planning, Development and Marketing; Technical Director Omar de la Cruz and Asunción Sanz, Director of Institutional Relations, made the announcement in the name of the Festival’s Organizing Committee.  Also present at the announcement was Dominican Minister of Culture José Rafael Lantigua, who also belongs to the organizing committee of the cultural event.

The opening film of the Festival will feature the world premiere of the new Shalim Ortiz film “Touched,” an intense drama about inner-family violence. It will be shown at the Main Hall of the National Theater following the red carpet opening ceremony, announced Mr. de la Cruz.

The DRGFF will close with “Sol Caribe,” (Caribbean Sun) a film about the history of merengue and Dominican culture.

Through these films, professional training and educational programs, the 2009 Festival seeks to inspire and educate emerging artists, industry professionals, students from elementary through high school and film lovers of all stripes.

In keeping with the Festival’s slogan, Global Issues, Personal Stories, this international film event will show 30 high quality films, documentaries and features, which highlight the urgent global issues of our times. It will also focus on challenging stories and personal achievements

Global Issues, Personal Stories
This year we will see the sustainable production of food on a local as well as international level; we will evaluate our relationship with the world’s oceans and their creatures; we will embrace music and dance as vehicles for personal empowerment; we will develop a better understanding of the impulses and effects of transnational immigration; we will overcome adversities and we will delight in the success of personal triumphs. 

Five Stages

The DRGFF 2009 will be celebrated in Santo Domingo, Santiago, Puerto Plata, Nagua the tourist complex of CapCana. There will be red carpet ceremonies at the opening event in each of these cities.

Professional panels and training workshops being offered by more than thirty international film industry experts are designed to provide young film talent and experienced professionals with the necessary tools to achieve success on a local as well as international level.  

Panels, Workshops and Master Classes

This year’s program will offer a close look at the inner workings of the many facets of the film industry including camera work, subtitling, film restoration, professional networks, the world of international film festivals and the production of films that recognize the importance of social changes.

Through the coordination of panels, workshops and master classes, Festival organizers - the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and the Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE) - are also making an effort to develop training programs throughout the year with the cooperation of the Global Media Arts Institute (GMAI). This is part of GFDD/ FUNGLODE’s general mission which is to provide training to promising Dominican professionals in the area of film and television production and contribute to the progress of the Dominican multimedia industry. 

What makes the Dominican Global Film Festival unique from other festivals is that it is celebrated simultaneously in five cities and includes specialized programs, such as thematic panels, to appeal to students from elementary to high school. The DRGFF 2009 will present nine thematic panels on a variety of topics from food security, animal rights to gender equality. 

Short Films Competition

For the first time ever, this year’s Festival will be showing a series of short films made by Dominican filmmakers. This year the DRGFF has launched a national Short Films Competition with the goal of identifying local budding talent. With this new short films initiative, the Festival contributes even more to its main objectives: the advancement of the Dominican short film industry; the promotion of local productions and filmmaking community; the enrichment of the local film culture and to provide Dominican professionals an opportunity to form networks and increase the visibility of local as well as national and international productions   

 Eleven Dominican filmmakers - the first prize winner and ten finalists - will show their short films at this year’s Festival. We are pleased and proud to share with you these examples of film excellence at the DRGFF 2009.

We believe that film is an art with a special capacity to mold the way we see ourselves and others and to recognize the challenges that confront the world community. We believe that it has the power to inspire, challenge trends and prejudices and to provoke compassion and solidarity.   

More Details

• Each film function will cost RD$50 for adults and RD$25 for students and children.
• The DRGFF will open in Santiago with the film “La Soga” by Dominican, Manny Pérez.
• CapCana will open with two films at their so-called Film Under the Stars presentation.
• Starting Thursday October 15, the TV program “On the Road with the Festival” (Rumbo al Festival) is being broadcast on Digital 15 from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. and by Antena Latina, every Sunday at 10:00 in the morning and by CTN on Tuesdays at 10:30 p.m. (the week prior to the Festival, there will be daily broadcasts).
• With the consent of the Ministry of Education, it will be possible for elementary and middle school students to enjoy the morning sessions of the Festival films.
• Members of the media wishing to cover the event should registers at the Festival’s website Festival
• The inauguration of the DRGFF will take place on November 17 in Santiago, Puerto Plata, and Nagua
• The main inauguration will take place on November 18 in Santo Domingo at National Theater
• With Dominicans Manny Perez, Juan Fernandz and Hemky Madera