The festival in history

In 2017 the FCGSD received accreditation from the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF)as Competitive Festival Specialized in Prime Operas.

On November 9, 2006, the president of the Dominican Republic, Dr. Leonel Fernández, inaugurated the first edition of the festival, which has become the most important film event in the Caribbean. He then announced that the Dominican Republic would be the new mecca of Latin American cinema and that the festival would be the platform to do so.

With its creation and development, the festival would be a platform to promote awareness, give a broader view of the world and stimulate the creative spirit. In his speech at that time, President Fernández said that the festival would serve to give a boost to the Dominican Republic, which was already on the “path of no return towards international recognition” and that one of the objectives of his government was to create the conditions that allow the development of cinema in the Dominican Republic.

El Santo Domingo Global Film Festival (FCGSD) It began for the first time in the most important theater in the country, the Eduardo Brito National Theater, with an elegant opening attended by film and entertainment greats, such as Andy García, Zoe Saldaña and Emilio Estefan.

The Dominican Film Law, promoted by a group of Dominican filmmakers, was approved in November 2010. With it, a significant number of national products found the financial support they needed to reach a successful conclusion.

In the words of the director of FCGSD, Omar de la Cruz, the festival has been a combination of determination and effort to achieve greater visibility for the Dominican Republic in the international film industry. “It is at the festival where Dominican producers, directors and actors relate and interact with filmmakers from other regions and create synergy to develop projects in the country, with the support of the Film Law.”

Those who have reached the previous versions of the FCGSD include: Andy García, Lola Dueñas, Guillermo Navarro, Israel Cárdenas, Laura Amelia Guzmán, Zoe Saldaña, Ishtar Yasin, Tom Lutz, Mark Haskell, Dania Ramirez, John Singleton, Brett Ratner, Juan Fernández, Omar Sharif, Manny Pérez, Barbara Boyle, Mikhail Baryshmikov, Shalim Ortíz, Denise Quiñones, William Fay, Elliot Rosemblat, Frank Perozo, Michael Madsen, Victoria Abril, Lisa Minelli, Claudia Cardinale, Benicio Del Toro, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Loles León, Jose Antonio Escrivá, Patricio Castilla, Cindy Cowan, Luis José López, Jessy Terrero, Ciro Cappellari, Antonio Saura, Steven Bauer, Sharlene Taule Fernando Carrillo, Manolo Cardona, Danny Glover, Geraldine Chaplin, Sophie Rois, Roko Belic, Enrique Gónzales Macho, Jacques Roc, Solly Durán, Iván Sánchez, Emiliano Otegui, Ivanna Chubbuck, Manuel Pérez Estremera, James Belzer, Cooky Ziesche, Sarodj Bertin, Rubén Cortada, Tony Isbert, Juan Pablo Liano, Sonya Smith, Manolo Travieso, Ramsés Jimenez, Maria González, Mauricio Henao, Arap Bethke, Mario Cimarro, Sandra Condito, Edward James Olmos, Philip Bloom, Gina Rodriguez, Adriana Barraza, Amelia Vega, Aurora Papile, Bruno Chatelin, Carlos Badem, Catherine Murphy, Esai Morales, Félix Sánchez, Grabiela Spanic, Guillermo De La Corte, Gustavo Pazmín, Hemky Madera, Hernán Goldfrid, Irving Vicente, Iván De Paz, John Tintori, Juan Carlos Arciniegas, Juan Marichal, Lichi Ariza, Liz Gallardo, Lucas Till, Rafa Lara, Sandra Tares, Thomas Crowell, Arnold Schwartzman, Sergio Gobbi, Andrew Davis, Ulysses Terrero, VIN DIESEL, Ana Hurtado Martinez, Anna M. Bofarull, Kelley Kali, Diana Peralta, Miguel García De La Caldera, Persephone Braham, Jennifer Duprey, Tamara Falicov, Naida García Crespo, Tara Hamilton Wray, Sandra Henar, Shewonda Leger, Emiel Martens, Rachel Mosely Wood, Rae Ann Smith, Lisa Tomlinson, Jasper Vahaelemeesch, Ana Aizemberg, Eugenio Fontaneda, Lucia Alemany, Ernesto Alterio, Elvi Cano, Lucia Del Rio, Begoña Donat, Mina El Hammani, Ruth Franco, Javier Furgang, Ruth Gabriel, Elena Lázaro, Liz Lobato, Manuel H. Martin, Carlos Reviriego, Tito Rodriguez, Antonio Saura, Grace Subervi, Manina Szereszevky, Elena Vilardell, Rubén Peralta Rigaud, Gyro Bustamante, Dunja Fehimovic, Mary Leonard, Minerva Flores, Michelle Peralta, Ignacio Pérez Marín, Delia Guerra, Javier Espada, Elsa Turull De Alma, Johanné Gómez Terrero, Gilles Reusseau, Joan Sala, Veronica Riedel,  Begoña López, Virginia Pablos, Ira Fronten, Llaima Sanfiorenzo, Camila Marrero Montero, Kisha Burgos, Paco Poch, Gerardo Michelin, Anna Marie De La Fuente, Yumey Besú Payo, José Castro, Laura Delli Colli, Claudia Fernández, Julie Gayet, Francisco Lombardi, Wilhem Pérez, Ninton Sánchez, Claudia Triana De Vargas, John Gibson, Eloisa Lopez-Gomez, Gessica cool, Ethan Maniquis, Eva Cebrián, Star Arabiza, Ciro Guerra, Jale Laplante, José D'laura, Calixto Chinchilla, Nacho Carballo, these and many other personalities and stars of the big screen have reached the Santo Domingo Global Film Festival (FCGSD) in recent years and we are very sure that, sooner or later, this film festival will also become the world event that will give the Caribbean its legitimate place in the seventh art.