René Fortunato donates footage to the Nation’s General Archive
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 1/11/2012
More than five thousand hours of moving footage of Dominican historical events and activities, were donated by filmmaker René Fortunato to the Nation’s General Archive (AGN for its acronym in Spanish).
“All the footage that has served as the basis for the film productions that I have made is contained in this collection of audiovisual documents that I am donating.”
The donated films containevents of political, social, artistic, sports, economic and cultural historical interest that occurred in the Dominican Republic from 1916 until 1995.
Eleven hundred (1,100) rolls of films in the 35, 16 and super eight millimeterformats; six thousand three hundred and fifty (6,350) U-Matic¾, Betacam and VHSvideos; and over four hundred original photos, constitute the total donation made by René Fortunato.
Upon delivery ofthe materials to the AGN, Fortunato stated thathe achieved such collection of moving footage during his more than twenty years of historical research, acquiring part of them from international film archives and others from local collectors.
“All the footage that has served as the basis for the film productions that I have made is contained in this collection of audiovisual documents that I am donating,” noted the documentary film director, known for his feature films on historical events, among which the following are highlighted: “Abril: La Trinchera del Honor (April: The Trench of Honor),” “Trujillo: El Poder del Jefe (Trujillo: The Power of the Chief),” and “Balaguer: La Violencia del Poder (Balaguer: the Violence of Power),” among others.
With all the footage received, the National Archives is committed to creating the “René Fortunato Moving Footage Fund. Dominican History of the Twentieth Century,” which may be studied by historians, researchers and the general public at no cost.
Among the footage donated by Fortunato are copies of images created by Dominican film pioneer Francisco Arturo Palau during the 1920s and the early thirties.
There is also a copy of the images taken by Thomas Alba Edison in 1898 in Florida, where U.S. soldiers are seen leaving for Cuba to participate in the Spanish – American War in that country, and footage of the first U.S. military intervention to Santo Domingo in 1916.
Also included is footage made during the Trujillo era from 1955 until 1961, as well as those made during the period from 1962 to 1966 and the twelve years of the Balaguer regime. In U-Matic ¾ video Fortunato donated images of the governments of Antonio Guzmán Fernández, Salvador Jorge Blanco and of Balaguer’s return to power in 1986, among many other moving footage.
In addition to these, René Fortunato also donated a copy of his documentary film in thirty-five millimeters (35 mm) format “Bosch: Presidente en la frontera imperial (Bosch: President at the imperial frontier).”
“All this material is of great importance to the Dominican nation and its value in the international market, based on current prices, exceeds thirty million US dollars (US$30,000,000.00),” stated Fortunato, while highlighting that with this gesture he offersone more example of what he hasasserted on other occasions, when he has claimed that “money is not the main engine that drives the actions of my life.”
Filmmaker Rene Fortunato. | 
