The name of Rene Fortunato is synonymous with historical documentaries on Dominican government and politicians in the Dominican Republic. Fortunato passed away on Friday, 18 July 2025. He was but 67. He died from a rare form of cancer.
Eighteen days before his passing, acclaimed Dominican filmmaker and documentarian René Fortunato had premiered his latest and final production, El Triunfo de la Democracia (The Triumph of Democracy), at the Sala Carlos Piantini of the Eduardo Brito National Theater.
This most recent documentary tells the story of how the Dominican Revolutionarey Party (PRD) made it to the presidency in 1978 and the racist campaign against PRD politician José Francisco Peña Gómez. It features historical events surrounding the rise to the Presidency of Antonio Guzman and historical events leading to the stepping down from the Presidency of long-standing President Joaquin Balaguer (1966-1978).
Now screening in cinemas across the Dominican Republic, the film stands as Fortunato’s final legacy —marking the completion of a long-promised project to the audience that followed his storied career for more than three decades.
Fortunato began his career as a producer in 1985, with the production of In the Footsteps of Palau (Tras las huellas de Palau). Later in 1988, he gained national and international acclaim with the success of his third documentary April, the Trench of Honor (Abril: La Trinchera del Honor). Fortunato was awarded the Pitirre Prize for Best Caribbean Documentary in the 1990 San Juan Film Festival.
Other documentaries are: La Trinchera del Honor (1988), El Poder del Jefe (1991), El Poder del Jefe II (1994), El Poder del Jefe III (1994), La Herencia del Tirano (1998), La Violencia del Poder (2003), Presidente en la Frontera Imperial (2009), Caamaño. Militar a Guerrillero (2023), El Laberinto de la Injusticia (2024). In 2017 he released the movie: Patricia: El Regreso del Sueño.
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21 July 2025