III edition
of the audiovisual contest
in the area of environment and
sustainable development

News

GFDD-inspired Dominican environmental films screened at the DC Environmental Film Festival 2013

Washington DC, March 22, 2013

Two Dominican environmental productions were screened in Washington, DC, during the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital, under the program Living Waters, Ocean Life, developed in a collaboration with GFDD/FUNGLODE's Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival (DREFF).

GFDD's relationship association with the DC Environmental Film Festival started in 2011  with the enthusiastic participation of its Executive Director, Peter O'Brien, in GFDD and FUNGLODE's first DREFF.  It has since evolved in to this 2013 edition with the joint development of the program Living Waters, Ocean Life, intended to expand the participation and outreach of Spanish-speaking productions and audiences in the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital. To this end, the program took place at the GALA Hispanic Theater, one of the few theaters in the area dedicated exclusively to theatrical productions in Spanish, located in the diverse community of Columbia Heights, with a strong Latin American presence.

The program included the screening of two Dominican productions, 1) Our Backs to the Sea, and 2) The Growth of Lakes Enriquillo and Azuei: Environment, Social and Scientific Implications. Our Backs to the Sea isthe winner of the first Globo Verde Dominicano 2012 award, born from the DR Environmental Film Festival as an annual competition of shorts dedicated to environmental issues. The participation of its director, Armando Larrauri, in the DC Environmental Film Festival is part of the award that is stirring interest among young Dominican filmmakers in environmental production. Armando held a discussion and question and answer session with an engaged audience clearly impacted by the shorts and the issues presented.

GFDD/FUNGLODE and the DR Environmental Film Festival are planning to continue the collaboration with the DC Environmental Film Festival with other joint programs, both in the Dominican Republic and in the US, promoting Dominican productions and motivating Dominican documentary filmmakers.