The famous Spanish actress highlighted the enthusiasm and the participation of all involved in the event, which, she said, contributes to expand culture.

The Spanish actress Loles Leon, one of Pedro Almodovar’s muses, who participates in the IV Dominican Republic Global Film Festival, said that she has been very impressed with it, that it has been a very pleasant experience, and that the enthusiasm of all involved surprised her.

"I really enjoyed observing that during the inauguration all were very involved. That happens at all film festivals in the world, whether large, small or medium. Anyone who loves cinema gets involved,” she said.

"Ultimately, the goal is to expand culture through cinema, in the country where it takes place," she said, and highlighted the interest and involvement of President Leonel Fernandez in the recently adopted Film Law.

Maria Dolores Leon (Loles), who has acted in well-known movies such as Pedro Almodóvar’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, also said that she brings a good impression of the Dominican Republic, having visited for the first time.

"I belonged to the Catalan Communist Party (in the 70’s) and at the time many people came here to visit and all came back very happy because they found a lot of solidarity with all our political problems, but I never had had the opportunity to come," she said.

She had words of praise for the feature film Mother and Child, screened during the DRGFF opening night, and which is coproduced by the United States and Spain, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Naomi Watts and Annette Bening, whose role she said she would love to play.

Leon has extensive experience in Spanish films, theater and television. Among her films are La Pasión Turca and Libertarias, produced by Vicente Aranda. She is one of Almodovar’s muses who decorate the DRGFF, in which Victoria Abril, who starred in Atame of the same director, also participates.

Asked about the film industry in third world countries, she stated that there will always be priorities such as health and education, but that culture is part of the package and therefore "must have its space, its place."

According to Loles, Latin American cinema is currently well positioned. "I think it is giving a lesson to Europe because it is coming out much more enhanced. European cinema is paying more dearly for the (economic) crisis."

See more photos on the Gallery of Photos, Nov. 19>