Agreement for the Preservation of the Dominican Audiovisual Heritage is Signed

Agreement for the Preservation of the Dominican Audiovisual Heritage is Signed
Santo Domingo, November 5 2015

The General Directorate of Film, through its agency, the Dominican Film Library, welcomed the signing of the Agreement for the Preservation of the Dominican Audiovisual Heritage, which took place on Wednesday, November 4, at the closing ceremony of the celebration of the World Audiovisual Heritage Day.

The Agreement for the Preservation of the Dominican Audiovisual Heritage is a document that has been created to protect the audiovisual memory of the Dominican Republic. The signing of this agreement is a measure of high importance because it records for posterity the Government’s commitment to preserve the film assets. Representatives of the film industry, the diplomatic corps and of Dominican citizens were also present at the ceremony to support this document.v

Among the personalities that signed the document are: Yvette Marichal, Director General of Film; María Mercedes Brito, Secretary General of the Dominican National Commission for UNESCO; Filias Bencosme, legal counsel for the Ministry of Culture, representing the Minister of Culture, José Antonio Rodríguez; Marcos Sánchez, representing the film distributors to the Intersectoral Council for the Promotion of Film Activity (CIPAC); Humberto Castellanos, President of the Dominican Association of Professionals from the Film Industry, ADOCINE; Zumaya Cordero, representing the movie theater owners to the CIPAC; Miguel Ángel Muñiz, representing the movie studios to the CIPAC; Roberto Leonel Rodríguez, representing the Directorate General of the Internal Revenue to the CIPAC; Fiora Cruz, in charge of the Dominican Film Library; July Melo, Director of the UASD School of Cinema; and Agliberto Meléndez, founder of the Dominican Film Library.

Government officials, representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in the country, film industry professionals and members of the press corps attended this important event.

The Dominican Film Library is the agency of DGCINE that, according to Law 108-10 for the Promotion of the Film Activity in the Dominican Republic, has the mission of preserving the Dominican audiovisual heritage. This event is the first of many that will seek to generate collective consciousness for the preservation of the Dominican identity through the audiovisual memories that are evidence of the Dominican identity.

The signature of the agreement marked the grand finale of the Audiovisual Heritage Week, a special program that the General Directorate of Film, through the Dominican Film Library, carried out to celebrate the World Audiovisual Heritage Day.