Dominican Republic / All works
Cinema
Abril: la trinchera del honor
René Fortunato · 1988
Synopsis
A montage documentary on the April 1965 crisis: the military rebellion led by Colonel Francisco Alberto Caamaño Deñó overthrows the civilian triumvirate in power, then United States armed forces land. The film places these days within the years running from the death of Trujillo, in 1961, to the election of Joaquín Balaguer, in 1966, and draws on Caamaño's speeches, on popular demonstrations against the intervention and on previously unseen footage from several film archives.
Context
According to Acento's obituary notice, the film was edited on Saturdays and Sundays, at very little cost, while its author was writing for a television programme; when the government of Joaquín Balaguer hinted that it would prevent the screening, a press campaign, backed by Última Hora, La Noticia and El Nacional, forced the censors to back down. Released on 27 October 1988 in four cinemas in the capital, the film was also, according to the same source, the first video production shown in the country's cinemas. An expanded version appeared in 2005.
Who it is for
Ninety minutes, in Spanish, in black and white; an archive film that calls for some knowledge of Dominican political life after the dictatorship.
Prizes and reception
Pitirre Prize for best Caribbean documentary at the San Juan festival in Puerto Rico, in 1990.