Spellbound movie-goers at Cine Americas treated to moving tale of Jean Gentil during GFDD and FUNGLODE Dominican Republic Film Showcase

Friday July 22nd, 2011

Washington DC, 7/22/2011
In the penultimate night of the hugely popular Cine America’s: Dominican Republic Film Showcase, GFDD and FUNGLODE presented a Dominican/Mexican/German movie production of Jean Gentil to a transfixed audience.

The film focuses on the moving story of a recently dismissed French teacher –middle-aged Haitian man Jean Gentil — who embarks on a desperate quest for work in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. He sets out with a large shopping bag looking for a place in the world and a reason to carry on. During his journey on foot, he passes a building site where he can start work, but he would rather do something that is more intellectually demanding. Jean Gentil, played by Jean Remy Genty, is given all the room he needs to make the transition from the large and continually growing city to the peace of the countryside. The changing surroundings are like characters in themselves, but the beauty of the island is not able to mask the worries of its inhabitants.

Dominican Director Laura Amelia Guzmán and the Mexican Director Israel Cárdenas make use of non-professional actors, like Jean Remy Genty, on whose life the film is largely based. It examines his daily struggles in what can be a very harsh world and further highlights the oftentimes complex relationship between DR and Haiti. The Directors hope that by showcasing this film, positive change could be achieved in hearts and minds of people on both sides of the border, and help eradicate stereotypes, which in turn can improve tolerance, respect and mutal appreciation.

In association with the Dominican Embassy to the US, The Museum of the Americas to the OAS and the Dominican Mission to the OAS, the Dominican Republic Film Showcase, screens a sample of the best films produced recently in the Dominican Republic, by Dominican filmmakers, about Dominican topics.

The Dominican Film Showcase covers a wide array of social themes, and present four interesting slices of Dominican life, which will be discussed with their directors and producers following each screening.

The Film Showcase will climax July 22, with The Republic of Baseball, a topic of great interest here in the US and in the Dominican Republic followed by Q & A on race in sports with its Producer, Rob Ruck.

For full schedule and more info please go to:http://www.globalfoundationdd.org/DominicanFilmWeek