René Fortunato is, beyond all doubt, one of the most outstanding
dominican film makers of recent times.As a producer, he made his debut
in July of 1985, with the documentary "In the Footsteps of Palau,"
and in 1988 achieving national and international fame thanks to the
success of his full-length documentary "April, the Trench of Honor".
He has produced and exhibited in many of this country´s movie
theaters, with remarkable success among audiences and critics, the following
full-length documentaries:
1988 : APRIL : The Trench of Honor.
1991 : TRUJILLO : The Power of the Generalissimo.
1994 : TRUJILLO : The Power of the Generalissimo II.
1996 : TRUJILLO : The Power of the Generalissimo III.
1998 : BALAGUER : The Legacy of the Tyrant.
2003 : THE VIOLENCE OF POWER.
2005: APRIL : The Trench of Honor. -New version-
In recognition of his work, he has received numerous awards and distinctions,
including the following:
o Pitirre Prize for the Best Documentary of the Caribbean region, in
the II International San Juan Film Festival in San Juan, Puerto Rico,
for his documentary "APRIL, The trench of Honor", in October
of 1990.
LASA FILM AWARDS, granted by the United States Association for Latin
American Studies-LASA-, in September of 1995, for his documentary "The
Power of the Generalissimo II", considering it as one of the best
documentaries produced in Latin America.
Special Recognition, International Book Fair Sto. Dgo. ’99, for
his work in rescuing and publishing the historical memory of the Dominican
nation.
Honorable Mention in the First Ibero-American Festival of Independent
Documentary Video – "Against the silence of all the voices"
– for his documentary "APRIL, The Trench of Honor",
held in Mexico City, in June of 2000.
Award for Profesional Excellence, granted in July of 2000, by the Executive
Power of the Dominican Republic, for his contributions to the development
of Dominican culture.
In December of 1991 served as Juror in the XXXIII Bilbao International
Festival for Documentary Films and Short Movies, Spain.
In December of 1992 he served as Juror at the IV International and Caribbean
Cinema Festival (San Juan Cinemafest), held in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Fortunato studied Social Communication at the University of Santo Domingo-UASD-
(1982/1985).
Simultaneouly, he worked for several Santo Domingo television firms
and stations in different aspects of television and film production.
From 1978 to 1987 he published numerous articles about film and TV in
the most important Dominican newspapers and cultural supplements.
During 1987 he wrote the movie review section of the Ultima Hora newspaper.
In July of 1985, he presented the documentary "In the Footsteps
of Palau", on the life and works of Francisco Arturo Palau, the
first Dominican film maker.
In August of 1987 he debuted the documentary "Frank Almánzar:
Images of an artist", and then in 1990 produced the short musical
"Caribe" – which received the Audience´s Award
at the XVII Visual Arts Biennial.
For more information about Fortunato"s works, fotographs, posters,
data, articles, interviews, etc., visit the net at: http://imdb.com/name/nm1934513