GFDD Short Film Wins the 2nd Place Fan Coral Award at the Reef Renaissance Film Festival Awarded

GFDD Short Film Wins the 2nd Place Fan Coral Award at the Reef Renaissance Film Festival Awarded
New York, June 10, 2014

Garbage or Resource – A Dominican Republic Experience won the 2nd Place Fan Coral Award in the Documentary Short category at the Reef Renaissance Film Festival last Sunday, June 8th in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.

The 17-minute short film, directed by Natasha Despotovic, has had a successful run since its premiere at the III Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival (DREFF) last September, has also been entered into different film festivals around the world. This is the second award the short film has won, after receiving the Best Documentary film award at the Green Lens Environmental Film Festival this past February (view synopsis and trailer).

Paul Cater Deaton, Show Coordinator of the Reef Renaissance Film Festival, said about the film, “I, personally, found the film fascinating. It was equally interesting to our keynote speaker, Virgin Islands Senate President Shawn-Michael Malone. He and I plan to discuss GFDD’s ReCrearte program at length in the hopes of encouraging a similar initiative here.”

As part of the award, Garbage or Resource – A Dominican Republic Experience and GFDD will receive an original and unique prize: a trophy handcrafted from reclaimed glass bottles by Barbara Krueger of Water Candy in St. Thomas.

The short’s producer and co-writer, Alexandra Tabar, thanked Paul Cater Deaton and all the organizers of the Reef Renaissance Film Festival for the recognition and the opportunity to present the Dominican Republic’s waste management experience to audiences in the Virgin Islands.

About the Reef Renaissance Film Festival:
The mission of Reef Renaissance Film Festival is to recognize and create awareness of the desperate need for protection of our precious oceans and marine resources, to engender inspired stewardship, to serve as a conduit through which many more people may become conservationists, and to provide a platform for both seasoned and emerging filmmakers and media creators to champion sustainability and best practices through film and interactive arts.

About Garbage or Resource – A Dominican Republic Experience:
The Dominican Republic has more than 340 open-air landfills without any type of management or control, which have become highly-concentrated areas of air and water pollution. They are an unseen danger for every Dominican. Fortunately, the country is witnessing cultural changes which are creating initiatives that convert this “problem” into an opportunity for development. The message is clear: trash is no longer just trash, rather it has value. As long as trash can be utilized, it is not trash. The appropriate term is “discarded material,” a resource which is raw material and then turned into a new product. Garbage or Resource? A Dominican Republic Experience, a film produced by GFDD/FUNGLODE, depicts how recycling has become an important economic opportunity for Dominicans. Through various corporate and educational projects, the viewer observes how– aside from the obvious environmental benefits– recycling enables economic development through the generation of new companies and industries. A short film which inspires, moves and calls to action.

Links:
http://garbage.dreff.org
http://www.reefrenaissance.com