Senior Staff of the Dominican Republic Global Film Festival Dominican Republic (DRGFF), an initiative of Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democraca y Desarollo (FUNGLODE) have become regulars of the Miami International Film Festival which this year took place March 5-14, 2010.

Located just over two hours flight from Santo Domingo , the sunny and multicultural setting of the MIFF, has become a mainstay in DRGFF’s mission to look for the best in international feature films and documentaries, current industry trends and big headliners. It also provided the DRGFF team, which this year comprised Asun Sanz and Paul Goris, lucrative networking opportunities with a predominantly Hispanic audience.

The Festival, which is widely considered as a InberoAmerican Sundance, is hosted by GFDD/FUNGLODE partner organization, Miami Dade College. This year it screened a roster of 115 films, including 5 world premiers, and 22 North American and 14 US debuts from 45 countries. Competition categories included Ibero-American, World, Dox, cutting the Edge and Shorts.

The Festival reflected a new tendency towards films of so called alternative cinema, with titles like Kiddo, by Cuban director Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti, and Face by Tsai Ming-Liang,.

The Closing Night film, The Secret in Their Eyes was chosen to spice up awards night and proved to be a fortunate pick. On March 7, the film won Hollywood’s Oscar for best Foreign Film!

In addition to the screenings, MIFF presented an annual career achievement award to revered German Director, Margerethe von Trotta, who is considered an icon of international feminist cinema. MIFF offered the screening of her last film, Vision, as well as a retrospective of her three most representative titles, Rosa Luxemburg, Rosenstrasse, and I Am the Other Woman.

The Festival offered a rare opportunity to shows films that otherwise would have little chance of distribution in mainstream US theatres, but included titles familiar to Dominican moviegoers --The Wind Journeys, --screened at the 2009 DR Global Film Festival last November.

DRGFF 2010 takes place 16-22 November, 2010.

www.miamifilmfestival.com.