An Indomina Group film, the crowd-pleasing ?Filly Brown,? starring Gina Rodriguez and directed by Youssef Delara and Michael D. Olmos, will open the 4th Funglode Film Festival on 14 November at the National Theater, to close on 21 November. Filly Brown has been described as ?one of the gems? of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Indomina is building the Pinewood Indomina Studios, a major soundstage facility, in the Dominican Republic, due for completion in 2013 at an estimated cost of US$50 million.
This year the festival is dedicated to Germany. The National Film Agency has launched the Maria Montez Award, with RD$200,000 in prize money. Omar de la Cruz announced that the winner of the first Maria Montez Award is Agliberto Melendez for his legendary film, Pasaje de Ida (One Way Fare) that tells the tragic story of Dominicans taking an illegal boat trip to Puerto Rico.
More than 70 films from around the world will be shown at cinemas in Santo Domingo, Santiago, Puerto Plata, Cap Cana (Punta Cana) and Nagua. This year, movie fans will also be able to see the work of the 11 finalists of the Dominican Short Film Contest.