With barely two weeks to go, tickets are selling fast for the inaugural Dominican Republic International Film Festival is less than one month away. The first annual Dominican Republic International Film Festival to take place at the Sun Village Resort & Spa, Cofresi Beach, Puerto Plata will kick off six days of sun, screenings and so much more starting on Sunday evening, 13 November 2005. The festival promises a full week of film, sun and fun.
New films have been added and celebrity attendance is increasing almost daily. These include Dan Klores’ “Viva Baseball,” a documentary about Latin influence on Major League Baseball. The screening will be attended by high profile Dominican-born professional baseball players that will be home after fulfilling this year’s commitments with MLB. Another new film will be “The Kid & I, Penelope Spheeris’ new comedy starring Tom Arnold, Joe Mantegna and Shannon Elizabeth. Some of the film’s stars will be in Puerto Plata for the event.
Other participating films are:
— “All In,” the new movie from director Nick Vallelonga starring Academy Award winner Lou Gossett Jr. (An Officer & A Gentleman), who has confirmed he will be in Puerto Plata for the event.
— “Havoc,” directed by Barbara Kopple, with a screenplay by Academy Award winner Stephen Gaghan (Traffic).
— “Lovewrecked,” directed by Randal Kleiser (Grease, Blue Lagoon) and with scenes filmed at the Cofresi hotel.
— “Water”, directed by Deepa Mehta (this film opened the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival).
— “The Last Mogul”, the controversial documentary film by Barry Avrich about Lew Wasserman.
For the most up to date information regarding screenings, celebrities, events and festival packages (5-7 day packages ranging from US$1,000-US$1,500), see http://www.driff.org