Representatives from the Cities of Puerto Plata, Santiago and Nagua Had the Opportunity to Speak at Length with DRGFF Staff

Formal preparations are underway for the III edition of the Dominican Republic Global Film Festival – an initiative of Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE) and Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD).

The Dominican Republic Global Film Festival (DRGFF) is the only one that presents films in several cities throughout the country simultaneously and brings films to public university auditoriums and works directly with schools and non-profits. The DRGFF team visited the cities as part of  a string of regular meetings to discuss lessons learned from 2008, as well as garner local support and insights for this year’s Festival, which will take place from November 18-22 2009 in Santo Domingo, Puerto Plata, Santiago and Nagua.

Representatives from the cities of Puerto Plata, Santiago and Nagua had the opportunity to speak at length with DRGFF staff from July 26 to July 29. Items discussed with stakeholders and volunteers included finding out strengths and weaknesses of last year’s event, what types of movies appealed to the various audiences in each respective city, and the lasting impact the Festival had on the general public. Additionally, and in line with the Festival’s goals to branch out to a broader audience, the team looked for possible new venues.

According to the information exchanged, there was no doubt that the Festival made its mark in the provinces. Just by the large number of partner institutions involved, the amount of participating volunteers, the packed audiences and their feedback on the films, as well as the considerable media response, it was considered a resounding success. Each province had a well developed promotion and marketing plan, but agreed that their outreach would start earlier this year in order to reach out to even more communities.

To bolster these efforts, the DRGFF team will hold a press conference in August 2009 with local media and cultural coordinators in each city. Stakeholders will also be provided with the Festival’s institutional video, prepared by GFDD and FUNGLODE’s Audiovisual Department, Global Media Arts Institute (GMAI). This will be followed by TV show Rumbo al Festival, which airs nightly at the end of August, right up until the day of  the inauguration in the cities on November 17.

The Festival has, from its inception, enjoyed the support of the UASD (Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, which are a series of Regional Universities in Dominican Republic ), but each year the universities have become even more engaged, contributing new and exciting ideas. This year, as part of a way to incentivize students, professors will assign tasks related to movies and the students’ topic of study, so that they can get involved and take full advantage of all the activities DRGFF has to offer.