Dominican Night to Come Again to Washington In March as Part of DCEFF

February 9, 2017

Washington, DC- As part of the long-term partnership between the Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival (DREFF) and the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital (DCEFF), Dominican Night, featuring screenings of documentaries produced on the island, comes once again to the United States capital. On March 23, as part of the long-running Washingtonian festival, this year in its 25th edition, the city’s E Street Cinema will host a screening of the winner of the 2016 Globo Verde Dominicano, the short film Ciclos by Hansel Ureña Espósito, as well as Death by a Thousand Cuts, directed by Juan Mejia and Jake Kheel, and Site of Sites, by Natalia Cabral and Oriol Estrada.

This is a brilliant opportunity to contribute to the enrichment of the Dominican Republic’s filmmaking culture and take its particular brand of film to a broader international audience, as explained by GFDD and DREFF director Natasha Despotovic: “The Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival has been closely collaborating with DCEFF for the past six years and continues to work to achieve its aims of offering information and projects that contribute to the appreciation of the Dominican environment and promote its sustainable use, while promoting Dominican filmmaking internationally and providing development opportunities to young filmmakers in the country.”

Death by a Thousand Cuts, which premiered in Washington last July and was also included in the program of DREFF 2016, is, in the words of its directors, “a story with a moral showing that the ferocious and growing competition for natural resources, together with ever more noteworthy economic inequality, is fertile ground for social conflict.”

Site of Sites, for its part, which won the 5th edition of Doc Tv Latin America, portrays a landscape of mountains and rocky coast that is quickly being turned into golf courses, pools, and artificial beaches and where fisherman are becoming laborers.

About the Films

Death by a Thousand Cuts

At a time when the tensions between the Dominican Republic and Haiti are ever more intense, the brutal murder of a park ranger becomes a metaphor for the larger story of increasing tension between Haiti and the Dominican Republic over illicit charcoal exploitation and mass deforestation.

With stunning cinematography, this documentary investigates the death of the park ranger and the systematic eradication of Dominican forests.

Site of Sites

Somewhere in the Caribbean, artificial beaches are being built. A young model waits for her friends alongside a pool, a gardener and a servant fantasize about buying expensive furniture, a group of street sweepers philosophize about love, and some amateur golfers try to get the ball in a hole, while tourists wander among machines and noise.

About DCEFF
The Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital (DCEFF) is the world’s most important event for premiering environmental films. Every March in Washington, DC, the Festival screens more than 150 films to an audience of more than 33,000 people. DCEFF’s programming includes panels and social events, plus screenings in local museums, embassies, universities, libraries, and theaters. Founded in 1993, DCEFF is the largest and longest-running environmental film festival in the United States. It has become an important, participatory cultural event both during the festival and throughout the rest of the year.

About DREFF
Since its creation in 2011, the Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival – an initiative of the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and the Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (Funglode) – provides the Dominican public with a platform for knowledge and debate on environmental and sustainable development issues as well as related challenges and best practices, while celebrating the Dominican Republic’s unique natural beauty and wealth.

When: March 23, 2017
Time: Death by a Thousand Cuts 6 pm / Site of Sites 8 pm
Where: E Street Cinema – 555 11th St NW, Washington, DC 20004
RSVP: DBATC.eventbrite.com / SiteofSites.eventbrite.com

Related Links:
www.globalfoundationdd.org