{"id":246927,"date":"2026-01-29T06:55:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T10:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/?p=246927"},"modified":"2026-01-29T08:52:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T12:52:44","slug":"milly-quezadas-lfe-story-opens-at-the-santo-domingo-global-film-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/2026\/01\/29\/milly-quezadas-lfe-story-opens-at-the-santo-domingo-global-film-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Milly Quezada\u2019s life story opens at the Santo Domingo Global Film Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The 18th edition of the Santo Domingo Global Film Festival (FCGSD) officially launched on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, at the Eduardo Brito National Theater, setting the stage for a week-long celebration of international cinema and cultural dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opening night\u2019s centerpiece was the world premiere of “Milly: La Reina del Merengue” (Milly: The Queen of Merengue), a musical documentary directed by Leticia Tonos. The film chronicles the life of the legendary Milly Quezada, who fled the Dominican Civil War in 1965 as a youth and rose to musical prominence in New York\u2019s Washington Heights during the 1970s. The documentary explores Quezada\u2019s journey through themes of memory, identity, and resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the opening ceremony, the festival presented top honors to both Milly Quezada and multi-talented artist Cecilia Garc\u00eda, recognizing their enduring impact on Dominican theater, film, and music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The night also featured the screening of “Platanero,” a short film by Juan Frank Hern\u00e1ndez. Fresh from its selection for the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, the Dominican-Canadian production offers a critical and ironic look at migration and identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International focus and special guests
This year, the festival welcomes Hungary as the Guest of Honor, featuring a curated selection of Hungarian classics and contemporary works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adding to the festival’s international profile is the participation of the celebrated Dominican-American author, Julia Alvarez who is a central figure in this year’s edition. The festival will host the screening of the documentary \u201cJulia \u00c1lvarez: A Life Reimagined,\u201d directed by Adriana Bosch, followed by a discussion with the author.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also here for the festival is former US ambassador to the Dominican Republic Robin S. Bernstein. She was ambassador during the first Trump administration. Bernstein will participate in a screening and public forum for the documentary \u201cThey Called Us Trujillo\u2019s Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The festival runs from 28 January 28 to 4 February 2026. Notable events from the official calendar also include the Projection and Panel on \u201cFrantz Fanon, vie, pensee et heritage\u201d on 2 February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking ahead
Omar de la Cruz, the festival’s executive director, highlighted that this edition serves as a bridge toward the festival\u2019s 20th anniversary in 2028 and marks the 25th anniversary of Funglode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The festival runs through 4 February 2026, featuring six international competitions spanning debut features, animation, documentaries, and short films. Educational workshops, including a marketing and commercial strategy course led by the Cinema and Audiovisual School of Catalonia (ESCAC), are also integral to the program.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more in Spanish:
Noticias SIN <\/a>
Film Festival calendar <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

29 January 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 18th edition of the Santo Domingo Global Film Festival (FCGSD) officially launched on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, at the Eduardo Brito National Theater, setting the stage for a week-long celebration of international cinema and cultural dialogue. The opening night\u2019s centerpiece was the world premiere of “Milly: La Reina del Merengue” (Milly: The Queen of … <\/p>\n

Read more\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[340,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246927"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246927"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":246973,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246927\/revisions\/246973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}