(Santo Domingo, October 2, 2012) – The jury for the Dominican Global Film Festival’s 4th Short Films Contest announced the eleven finalists on Monday. They were selected from among dozens of entries that joined the competition when it opened last May 15.

Jacquelin Bello, president of the Jury, released the names of the eleven short films selected: Prisioner 614, Subterráneo, El primer día, Un pacto con la soledad, El Fotógrafo, Talion, Mirada de payaso, Amor en vano, Desobediencia, Sofia and Dago.

Ms. Bello said the projects presented in this year’s competition were of higher quality than those in the past. She said participants took the contest very seriously and demonstrated “a great deal of discipline, rigor and knowledge of the various filmmaking skills necessary to produce short films.”

Fellow jurors, screenwriter Luis Rafael González and documentary filmmaker Martha Checo, agreed with Bello who noted that the issues dealt with in the short films predominantly tended to have social content connected to love stories.

The Dominican Global Film Festival’s (FCGD) Short Films Contest was designed to enable new filmmakers to develop and create their projects and show them on the big screen. Bello predicted that this year’s short films are going to surprise the Dominican viewing public because they reflect “that we are on the right road to film, in terms of the application of technology and the application of knowledge. The public will notice the higher level of training and confident expertise.”

The eleven short films selected will be screened during the week of the week of the Dominican Global Film Festival at all of the participating venues where viewers will be asked to vote. Then, the final winners will be announced and receive their awards at the closing ceremony of the Film Festival.

Through this initiative, the Dominican Global Film Festival seeks to promote the short film industry in the Dominican Republic and increase the visibility of local productions in the national and international film community.

Jury Members of the Short Film Contest

Martha Checo

Dominican documentary maker, Martha Checo studied Film at the Autonomous University of Santo Domino (UASD), Screenwriting and Political Documentary Production at the International Film and Television School (EICTV) of San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba (1989-1991). She holds a Doctorate in History and Film Esthetics from the University of Valladolid, Spain (1995). Her most recent documentary, Las Sufragistas (The Suffragettes) won a Max Pou Prize from FUNGLODE for Best Documentary Direction (2009); Casandra Award (2009) for Best Documentary and the Green Woman Film (2011) for Best Production.

She has written two essays on film and has made over twenty documentaries and short fiction films. Since 1990, she has been the Dominican representative at Cuba’s International Film and Television School (EICTV) .

Jacquelin M. Bello

A Dominican Architect, Jacquelin Bello holds a Post Graduate degree in Film, Documentary and Television Project Development from the Film and Audiovisual School of Madrid, Spain.

She is one of the most highly trained academics and professionals in the Dominican Republic in the areaa of film. She has participated in the making of television programs, documentaries, films and music videos.

Ms. Bello was the director of the first International Short Films Festival of New Cinema (Nuevo Cine), President of the Jury of FUNGLODE´s Short Film Competition, Jury member of Berlin´s Short Film Festival, President of the Academic Foundation of New Cinema, Director and Founder of the Film Training Program for Special Programs of Altos de Chavón School of Design.

She is a professor of Film Production at the Altos de Chavón School and the Academic Foundation of the New Cinema.

Luis Rafael González

Luis Rafael Gonzalez, born in Santo Domingo, developed the Videotheque chain of stores. He organized events and film projects for the Culture Center of Spain and the Theater House. He is a founding member of the Santo Domingo International Film Exhibition and worked as Deputy Director of Programming and Diffusion (2004-2006) as well as Director General (2007-2011) of the Dominican Cinematheque. Mr. Gonzalez represented the Dominican Republic in the International Federation of Film Archive (IFFA) congresses in Japan and France, the Regional Congress of the International Federation of Film Clubs in Brazil and the First Ibero-American Congress of Culture dedicated to Film and Audiovisuals held in Mexico. He also participated in the Dominican Film Law for the Promotion of Cinematic Activity in the Dominican Republic in its early stages.

He won the Les Films de L’Astre Screenwriting Competition for his script, “Dioses sin crepúsculo.” He has written other films scripts including “La mujer desechable”, “Ausente” and “Madre célula”, among other creative work.

Gonzalez has participated as an industry representative in recent editions of the Cannes Film Festival. He is a member of the Dominican Film Selection Committee (CDSF), which chooses Dominican films to represent the country at the Oscars and other international competitions. He has collaborated in the Festival of Film Fine Arts and the Dominican Global Film Festival. He is currently the director of the Seventh Art Company and websites related to AluCine and The Art of the Film Script.