The Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival (DREFF), in collaboration with the DC Environmental Film Festival (DCEFF) and the Interamerican Development Bank (IBD), yesterday celebrated the screening of the film Death by a Thousand Cuts at the E Street Cinema in Washington, DC. Before a full house that required the opening of two screening rooms, the movie’s codirectors Juan Mejía Botero and Jake Kheel and producer Ben Selkow spoke with the public about the film and expressed their hope that it would serve to call attention to the implicated parties and generate dialogue between Haiti and the Dominican Republic as well as transnational solutions.

“Washington, DC, as capital of the United States, is the ideal place to present Death by a Thousand Cuts before an influential and active audience,” they explained. “The presentation of the documentary in this city,” they continued, “gives us the chance to carry on the dialogue and conversations we’ve previously had with congressmen and US senators who’ve shown interest in this important problem, while also sharing the discoveries of our investigation into charcoal trafficking and its consequences.”

The documentary is, in essence, “a story with a moral demonstrating that the ferocious and growing competition for natural resources, along with increasingly notable economic inequality, is fertile ground for social conflict,” said the film’s directors, against a backdrop of impressive photography from Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The new executive director of the DCEFF, Maryanne Culpepper, said during her opening comments that the Festival – this year celebrating its 25th anniversary – presented this impactful documentary “as part of our commitment to presenting the most relevant films within the framework of the environment.”

DREFF’s director of programming María Victoria Abreu highlighted, for her part, that DREFF’s commitment to presenting this film in both Washington, DC, and the Dominican Republic between September 13 and 18 during the Festival is “to generate interest and concern among the public and motivate dialogue, action, and change at the different levels of society.”

Luis Simón, an analyst at the Office of External Relations of the Interamerican Development Bank (IBD), mentioned this special presentation and highlighted that “it’s important to support events like this that stimulate constructive discussions on complex issues in Latin America.”

“The solutions are varied and can be incorporated at different levels, but they should at minimum include a binational focus to reduce the demand for charcoal, greater protection for Dominican protected areas, livelihood alternatives for charcoal producers, and coherent forest management policies,” Kheel stressed.

About the Movie
At a time when tensions between the Dominican Republic and Haiti are ever more fraught, the brutal murder of a forest ranger becomes a metaphor for a broader reality on illicit charcoal exploitation and mass deforestation. With masterful cinematography, the documentary investigates the circumstances of the ranger’s death and the systematic destruction of Dominican forests.

About DREFF
This documentary is part of the program for DREFF 2016, to be held this September 13-18 in the Dominican Republic. The Washington, DC, showing is part of the Environmental Film Screenings program that DREFF runs year-round in the United States, on this occasion with the collaboration of the DCEFF, our partner of several years.

Since its creation in 2011, the Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival offers Dominicans a platform for knowledge and debate on environmental and sustainable development issues as well as the challenges they involve and best practices to address them. It also celebrates the exclusive beauty and wealth of the Dominican Republic’s natural endowment. With a varied selection of documentaries and numerous debate panels, workshops, seminars, and community activities, DREFF promotes dialogue and exchange of knowledge and experiences, with the aim of motivating Dominicans to take action and contribute to appreciating, conserving, and utilizing their natural resources sustainably.

Related Links
www.globalfoundationdd.org
www.deathbyathousandcutsfilm.com

The Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival (DREFF) in partnership with the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital (DCEFF) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will host the DC premiere of Death by a Thousand Cuts at the IDB Enrique V. Iglesias Auditorium, July 27 at 6 pm. The special screening will be followed by a discussion with the co-director and producer Jake Kheel, co-director Juan Mejía Botero, and producer Ben Selkow. This initiative is part of the Year Round Environmental Film Screenings Program that DREFF develops in the United States throughout the year, on this occasion with the collaboration of DCEFF, our long term partner.

Directed by Juan Mejía Botero and Jake Kheel, the documentary will be part of DREFF 2016 Program, taking place in the Dominican Republic from September 13 to 18. Beautifully filmed in the Dominican Republic, with music composed by multiple Grammy nominated and Grammy winning guitarist for They Might Be Giants Daniel Miller, Death by a Thousand Cuts it’s a captivating film that shows the link between environmental destruction and social catastrophe.

As tensions increase between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, the brutal murder of a park ranger becomes the metaphor for a larger story about illicit charcoal exploitation and mass deforestation. With stunning cinematography, the film investigates the circumstances of the ranger’s death and the systematic eradication of the Dominican forests. As in so many global struggles for natural resources, the fight for survival leads to scapegoating, xenophobia and clashes between communities. These clashes come to reflect the struggle for resources at a national and global scale, which when taken to extreme scenarios can lead to the persistent cycle of ethnic civil conflict and international violence, explain the producers of the film.

“The film, at its core, is a cautionary tale of how the increasingly fierce competition for natural resources combined with swelling wealth inequality can create fertile ground for civil strife,” as explained by the directors Juan Mejia Botero and Jake Kheel. “Even when initially represented as ethnic conflicts, if we step back and examine some of the world’s most recent international tragedies, we’ll often find this combination of factors at their center. The rising tensions between Haiti and the Dominican Republic are one example.”

About the Directors

Jake Kheel is a leader in the field of sustainable development. For over ten years he has confronted diverse social and environmental challenges in the Dominican Republic as Vice President of Sustainability of Grupo Puntacana and Vice President of the Grupo Puntacana Foundation, successfully implementing programs that have garnered the company many global sustainability awards. In 2001, as a graduate student conducting his Master’s thesis, Jake saw firsthand the relentless deforestation in the Sierra de Bahoruco and the potential for conflict between neighboring Haiti and the Dominican Republic over this unique national park. This began a nearly two-decade interest in the Sierra de Bahoruco and its steady decline that eventually led him to conceive of Death by a Thousand Cuts. Jake has a Master’s Degree in Environmental Management from Cornell University and Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Latin American literature from Wesleyan University.

Juan Mejia Botero is an award-winning film director with over 15 years of experience in feature and short documentaries. His work has focused primarily on human rights abuses and struggles for social justice around the world. He has worked extensively in Latin America and the Caribbean where he has directed a number of films around matters of forced displacement, ethnic autonomy, state violence, and the competition for natural resources, which have played widely in the festival circuit and also television. Juan’s directorial debut, Uprooted, won a number of awards and aired nationally on PBS. His feature documentary The Battle for Land, was a winner of a production grant from the Colombian Ministry of Culture Cinema Fund and a postproduction grant from the Tribeca Film Institute.

About Ben Selkow

Ben Selkow is an award-winning, non-fiction television and film director/producer whose work has been showcased on HBO, CNN, PBS, SundanceTV, Discovery, Science, Participant Media, Univision, Esquire Network, and at film festivals globally. His work pushes the cinematographic medium while crafting evocative human stories that elevate topics to broader platforms of dialog. Ben has focused on global social justice issues such as mental health disorders, women’s maternal health, the connection between environmental destruction and mass conflict. He has produced and directed long-form documentaries, docu-series, hosted international series and branded content all over the world.

About DREFF
Since its creation in 2011, the Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival has been providing Dominicans with a platform of knowledge and debate on the environment and sustainable development, along with its challenges and best practices, while celebrating the unique beauty and wealth that is the Dominican Republic’s natural heritage. With a diverse selection of films and numerous panels, workshops, seminars, and community activities, the DREFF promotes dialogue and the exchange of knowledge and experience, inspiring Dominicans to adopt actions that contribute to the appreciation, conservation, and sustainable use of their environmental resources.

Last Friday, July 8, the DREFF Environmental Screenings Series presented the short film The Change to a dozen kids aged 7–12 from the Ivan García Theater School summer camp in Puerto Plata. The screening was complemented by a talk on the value of marine flora and fauna, with the aim of promoting environmental best practices and furthering sustainable development.

Layla Arisleyda Beard, principal and teacher at the theater school, offered words of welcome and thanked DREFF (an initiative of the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development) for its collaboration with the aforementioned cultural center.

The talk was given by Yamil Rodriguez, technical director of ANAMAR, and covered basic aspects of the endemic flora and fauna and the maritime limits of the Dominican Republic.

When the activity ended, parents and children in the audience took the opportunity to ask questions and clarify thoughts about the subjects discussed.

About the DREFF Environmental Screenings Series
The Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival runs an Environmental Screenings Series, offering audiences around the country the chance to enjoy the most interesting titles screened in prior editions of DREFF and thereby expanding the reach of its efforts to raise and deepen awareness on environmental issues among the Dominican public. The program offers the opportunity for schools, community centers, companies, government bodies, and NGOs to enjoy these screenings at no cost.

Related Links:
www.dominicanscreening.org