Today Marks the Start of the Second Edition of the Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival (DREFF)

New York, September 5, 2012

The Second Edition of the Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival (DREFF), organized by Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), starts today, September 5, with the Opening Night Ceremony in the auditorium of FUNGLODE in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic at 6:00 pm.  The evening will feature the screening of the documentary film My Father, The Captain: Jacques-Yves Cousteau. The film is an intimate portrait of oceanography legend, Jacques Yves-Cousteau, told by his son Jean-Michel.

Opening Night will also include the participation of Jean-Michel’s son, and Jacques’s grandson, Fabien Cousteau, who will provide commentary on the making of the film, the legacy of his revered grandfather, and the future of the world’s oceans.

From today until Sunday, September 9, the Festival will present film screenings, panel discussions, workshops and other activities in a variety of venues in the cities of Santo Domingo, San Francisco de Macorís, Santiago, Punta Cana, Baní, Puerto Plata and Sosúa.

DREFF will feature a selection of 24 documentary films:

2 retrospective titles: (The Last Lions, Waste Land)

3 Dominican titles: (Terra, Dominicana Bajo el Mar II, Discover La Vega: Pride of My Land)

6 short films: (Anna, Emma and the Condors, Carbon for Water, Loretanos: Designing the Ocean’s Future, Someplace with a Mountain, Wild Wealth, Yasuni: A Wild Idea)

13 international feature films: (Big Miracle, Biophilic Design: The Architecture of Life, In Organic We Trust, Life: Challenges of Life, My Village, My Lobster, My Father, the Captain: Jacques Yves Cousteau, Revenge of the Electric Car, Sea the Truth, Surviving Progress, Taste the Waste, The City Dark, The Whale, Vegucated).

All screenings are free and open to the public and all foreign films will be subtitled in Spanish.

The First Edition of DREFF, launched by GFDD and FUNGLODE in September of last year, raises awareness and deepens understanding of environmental issues among Dominican audiences, while celebrating the beauty and diversity of the country's natural heritage. Through screening a diverse selection of high-quality films on matters of environmental concern, and organizing panel discussions with environmental experts, filmmakers and other stakeholders, the Festival seeks to foster dialogue and to inspire Dominican audiences to adopt practices that will ensure the health and environmental sustainability of the country.

By bringing together youth, scholars, experts, activists, filmmakers, representatives of public, private and nongovernmental institutions and the general public, the Festival promotes programs and projects that contribute to environmental protection, conservation and sustainability.

DREFF will also premiere its short film about the Educational Expedition to Pico Duarte. The First Educational Expedition to Pico Duarte, which took place April 2-5, 2012, was a spin-out of the 2011 Festival. DREFF coordinated the four-day trek for forty-five students from three Dominican high-schools -- Centro de Excelencia Media Profesora Cristina Billini Morales “Fe y Alegria”, Centro de Excelencia República de Colombia and Centro Educativo República de Guatemala, in partnership with Dominican professional mountaineer and seasoned Everest trekker, Karim Mella. The expedition included lectures by the students’ teachers on the geography of the Cordillera Mountain Range, rivers, fauna, flora, the climate of the Dominican Republic, environmental protection, forest fires, reforestation and first aid, among other topics.

Panels and workshops
DREFF 2012 will organize panels and workshops with directors and experts in five critical areas: oceans, biodiversity, ecological economy, sustainable agriculture and climate change.

Film Festival participants will also have the opportunity to attend workshops on diverse topics, such as:

• Ecological Films … Action!
• Plastic Vortex: Our Oceans, Plastics and Other Trash
• Social Networks as Generators of Environmental Impact
• Recyclarte

Globo Verde Dominicano
Through this initiative launched this year, DREFF recognizes talented Dominican filmmakers working to create productions on environmental themes. Globo Verde will select first, second and third place recipients in the areas of Short Film and Public Service Announcement.

Related links:
www.drenvironmentalfilmfestival.org
www.environmentaldictionary.org
www.globoverdedominicano.org