Dominican Film Festival 2014

The 2014 Dominican Film Festival at the Alumni Auditorium in Washington Heights, featured more than 30 films, with a variety of independent films, including documentaries, features and shorts.

A South Bronx Family

Directed by: Nelson Peña
Plot Summary: A South Bronx Family is a feature length documentary that spotlights a struggling family that is half Dominican, half Puerto Rican and that resides in the tough Melrose Projects, one of the poorest public tenements in the South Bronx, New York
Length: 90 min.

Al Sur de la Inocencia

Directed by: Héctor M. Valdez
Plot Summary: Step-siblings Vera and Andres embark on a road trip to the south of the Dominican Republic with best friend Santiago, a photographer, after their father is arrested for money laundering and embezzlement during Vera’s graduation party.
Length: 88 min.

Arrobá

Directed by: José María Cabral
Plot Summary: Tells the adventure of Pedro, Samuel and Pilon who decide to rob a bank together to solve their personal problems, but because of lack of experience, everything goes wrong.
Length: 97 min.

Biodegradable

Directed by: Juan Basanta
Plot Summary: In the year 2031, a drastic landscape in Latina America has ignited. The global crisis has destroyed the current political system, ultimately leaving a new form of government as an alternative.
Length: 90 min.

Blanco

Directed by: Melvin Duran
Plot Summary: Blanco is an observational documentary that portrays the personal lives of six people of different ages who live with the condition of albinism in a small rural mountain community of the Dominican Republic, called Constanza.
Length: 71 min.

De Pez en Cuando

Directed by: Francicso Adolfo Valdez
Plot Summary: Ben, a frustrated writer has decided to end his life. But when his suicide attempt is unknowingly interrupted by his neighbor, who has come to ask for a favor, his life will be thrown in disarray following a series of misadventures that will bring his world truly upside-down, giving him the reality check he may be needed.
Length: 80 min.

Despertar

Directed by: José Maria Cabral
Plot Summary: Rene, a prop maker for the film industry, has recently married Naomi. Following a disagreement one evening, Naomi disappears without trace. Rene then receives a phone call from someone who claims he saw her in a car accident.
Length: 84 min.

Duarte Traicion y Gloria

Directed by: Leo Silverio
Plot Summary: As a liberator and main patrician of Dominican Republic, Juan Pablo Duarte Diez embarked on a trail that cemented him into history. It focuses on his discovery of Dominican Republic along with the women who gravitates into his life and his forced exile to Caracas, Venezuela where he finally died.
Length: 96 min.

El Gallo

Directed by: Juan Fernandez
Plot Summary: Gallo has to return to his homeland, Dominican Republic, deported from the US after serving 25 years for a crime, after being implicated by his wife and former friend. Upon his return, he is thrust into the underbelly of contemporary Dominican life, where he meets Gaby and a fierce group of trans prostitutes and drug dealers living on the edge.
Length: 89 min.

Greencard Warriors

Directed by: Miriam Kruishoop
Plot Summary: The story follows a 14 year old boy Angel, an undocumented Latino teen and his family, who struggle to find a place in American society. With the promise of naturalization papers, the US military presents Angel’s father with the opportunity for a brighter future for his family if he sends his eldest son into the US Army.
Length: 91 min.

Locas y Atrapadas

Directed by: Alfonso Rodríguez
Plot Summary: Trapped in an elevator for 12 hours, it is a tale of five women who find common ground in their daily struggles under a forced circumstance.
Length: 96 min.

Lotoman 003

Directed by: Archie Lopez
Plot Summary: With their justice served to their community after two kids steal a woman’s purse, the Marchena brothers made the news with their bravery. The cause of the event led them into becoming secret agents where they had to detect the suspects of an illegal activity called “That Thing”.
Length: 95 min.

Mala Mala

Directed by: Dan Sickles, Antonio Santini
Plot Summary: A unique exploration of self-discovery and activism, featuring a diverse collection of subjects that include LGBTQ advocates, business owners, sex workers, and a boisterous group of drag performers who call themselves The Doll House, Mala Mala portrays a fight for personal and community acceptance paved with triumphant highs and devastating lows.
Length: 89 min.

Noche de Circo

Directed by: Alan Nadal Piantini
Plot Summary: A group of people from different professions and occupations, are trapped within a kind of narrow circular room, to which they have no idea how they got there, nor who took them there, much less know when they’ll be able to leave.
Length: 85 min.

Ponchao

Directed by: Josh Crook
Plot Summary: Ponchao is the story of Alex Ramírez, a man who’s destined to be best baseball player that ever lived, and to fulfill that dream he will do anything. The unexpected events he encounters and the way he chooses to handle them just to play his beloved sport, land him in way more than a little bit of trouble.
Length: 85 min.

Quien Manda

Directed by: Ronni Castillo
Plot Summary: Alex and Natalie have understandings similar in ways. Alex does not find value in sentimental relationship lasting pass three months, which Natalie shares the same view. However, that suddenly changes as love has more in store for them.
Length: 87 min.

TRACKED

Directed by: Juan Carlos Rodriguez
Plot Summary: Based on true events, TRACKED tells the story of the federal investigation of Mimi Ferrero, a drug dealer from Washington Heights. With a group of female runners working the clubs, the girls deliver the party favors and sex appeal. The team's determination is a simple one: Make. That. Money.
Length: 93 min.