One day before the main opening in the capital Santo Domingo, the regional main campus of the UASD in Nagua will host the gala opening of the II Dominican Global Film Festival which will last until Sunday November 23.

Representatives of local authorities headed by officials from the Ministry of Culture in the region, CURNA and members of the private sector and civil society will attend this gala event. Following the showing of the film, El baño del Papa, guests will have the opportunity to meet with the film´s actress Virginia Méndez and producer Nelson Lence, also to be present at the opening.

El baño del Papa, (The Pope´s Toilet) tells the story of how the impending visit of the Pope to a small Uruguayan town stirs a flurry of activity among the poor residents who trust that they´ll strike it rich as a result of this visit. They not only hope for spiritual wealth but they are also hoping for a small portion of the material blessings as well.

Beto, a petty smuggler, is certain he has found the best possible way to make money off the visit: the Pope´s toilet, where thousands of pilgrims will pay to use it. While others are frying up sausages and baking cakes and sweet breads, Beto will get rich with his scheme to earn a fortune from human waste.

But before he has even built the pay toilet, he has already used up the patience of his stoic and always optimistic wife Carmen and has disappointed his teenage daughter Silvia who dreams of a career in journalism. In fact, to make things worse, someone steals his beloved bicycle.

This film, a multi-award winner and festival favorite, is a moving story, told with emotion and humor, about human dignity and solidarity. It was directed by Enrique Fernández and Cesar Charlone (City of God) and co-produced by Fernando Meirelles (City of God and The Constant Gardener).

Unique Festival

In the days leading up to this event, Natasha Despotovic, General Director of the Film Festival, noted that although there are countless film festivals of different size and importance, with different themes and genres, the Dominican Global Film Festival is unique among them all for various reasons. “It is the only festival that shows films simultaneously in five cities throughout the entire country; it is the only one that takes the films to public university auditoriums and that works directly with the schools.”

Asunción Sanz, Promotion and Marketing Director of the Festival, stressed that the main goal of the festival is to be inclusive so that as many citizens as possible can participate regardless of where they are in the country. “In this spirit, we want all Dominicans to have first hand access to the protagonists of this event. We want people to see for themselves, not be told secondhand, but see for themselves, to decide and form their own opinions according to their own criteria.”