Our friends at the Smithsonian Latino Center called our attention to the Dominican Film Showcase. The festival will take place at the Organization of American States’ Art Museum of the Americas and features four films from the Dominican Republic. Filmmakers and actors will be in attendance. For free tickets, click HERE.
Here’s the related information from the press release:
GFDD and FUNGLODE will be sponsoring a Dominican Film Showcase at the OAS, during which four films closely associated with the DR will be screened — two of them directed by Dominican filmmakers.
The presence of the Dominican community is well acknowledged in cities across the United States and its culture, music, and traditions are quickly becoming household references, however, the country’s film industry still remains relatively unknown.
Global Foundation for Democracy and Development aims to change this by showcasing a sample of the best films produced recently in the Dominican Republic, by Dominican filmmakers, about Dominican topics.
The films will be shown every evening from July 19-22 at 6:30pm, at the Art Museum of the Americas, located at 201 18th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006.
Sugar
Date of Screening: July 19 at 6:30PM
Internationally acclaimed film Sugar, portraying a fictional account of an aspiring Dominican pitcher, 19-year-old Miguel Santos. Santos, as well as many other players in the DR, is observed by an American scout seeking out those players who might be good enough to compete in the US. Santos impresses with his curveball and wins a contract to play for a fictional minor league team in Iowa.
Aside from language and cultural issues, the focus of his struggle is the game. When the Dominican players arrive, the American coach explains that they have to work very hard because the competition is rough, there are simply far more players than positions for them to fill. And it is the case that the vast majority of minor league players do not make it to the majors.
* Title in Spanish: Sugar
* Title in English: Sugar
* Country: USA
* Completed: 2008
* Duration: 114 mins.
* Language: English with Spanish Subtitles
* Directors: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
Love Child
Date of Screening: July 20 at 6:30PM
Dominican Director, Leticia Tonos first feature-length film focuses on the story of María, a teenager who is sent to live with her father after her mother’s death. Together they inhabit a haunted Dominican plantain field and face the “ghosts” of the past and present. María, daughter of a single mother, must come to terms with a previously unknown father who had only been present in her life as an absent figure that her mother had never forgotten. The film is dedicated to single mothers of the world and their children.
* Títle (Spanish): La Hija Natural
* Título (English): Love Child
* Country: Dominican Republic
* Completed: 2010
* Duration: 96 Min.
* Language: Spanish
Jean Gentil
Date of Screening: July 21 at 6:30PM
The feature length film, Jean Gentil, is the work of Mexican-Dominican husband-wife team Israel Cardenas and Laura Amelia Guzman. Based on the life of a real man named Jean Remy Genty, a Haitian immigrant living in Santo Domingo who got to know Guzman when she took Haitian Creole lessons with him, the film is the result of the directors’ desire to explore the experiences of Haitian immigrants in the Dominican Republic.
* Title (Original): Jean Gentil
* Title (English): Jean Gentil
* Country: Dominican Republic / Mexico / Germany
* Completed: 2010
* Duration: 84 min.
* Language: Haitian creole/Spanish
* Directores: Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas
The Republic of Baseball: Dominican Giants of the American Game
Date of Screening: July 22 at 6:30PM
The movie documents the tale of the first great baseball superstars from the Dominican Republic — Felipe Alou, Juan Marichal, Manny Mota, and Ozzie Virgil — and how they overcame poverty and dictatorship at home and racism in the United States on their way to greatness in the Major Leagues.
* Title (Original): The Republic of Baseball: The Dominican Giants of the American Game
* Country: Dominican Republic/ USA
* Completed: 2006
* Duration: 83 min.
* Language: English with Spanish Subtitles
* Director: Daniel Manatt
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