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 Boston Light & Sound Helps Make First-Ever Dominican Republic Film Festival a Reality
Early in his first term, President Lionel Fernandez began the process of bringing higher education to the communities around the Dominican Republic. Believing that higher education is the key to the future of his people, he commissioned the construction of several satellite universities in the major communities around the island.
In the fall of 2006, President Fernandez charged his non-profit organization, the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (FUNGLODE), with establishing a film festival to help bring world culture to the small island country, and to raise the visibility of the people of the Dominican Republic around the world. Boston Light & Sound set out to make President Fernandez's dream a reality.
Film festival preparation, site survey, and coordinationWith less than one month's notice, BL&S supplied and equipped three university auditoriums, a screening facility at FUNGLODE, and the prestigious 1,500-seat National Theater in Santa Domingo with state-of-the-art 35mm motion picture and high definition video projection systems with premiere quality Dolby Digital sound reproduction.
To ensure precise planning and seamless execution, BL&S president Chapin Cutler flew to the various sites via military helicopter, surveying the locations and making early preparations. The BL&S team then orchestrated a complex set of logistics, pulling together crews, sourcing equipment, and coordinating delivery of equipment to remote locations. They made special arrangements to accommodate the shipping of huge equipment via barge from Puerto Rico. For one shipment a cargo plane was chartered to deliver equipment from Miami as commercial freight was too slow. When the film projectors were late in shipping from Europe, BL&S had four complete 35-mm projectors shipped to the site to insure the event would come off as planned.
Outfitting theaters with film projection and high-definition video systems Installation for the event was no small feat. None of the university spaces was equipped to handle 35mm film projection or high-definition video. The auditoriums had been designed for lectures, not movies. The team custom designed a system that would easily install in cramped quarters. As time was short, the equipment was installed in a temporary manner while maintaining an eye for a future, permanent installation. "In an environment like this, you can't just install standard movie house equipment," said BL&S president Chapin Cutler. "You need to consider all attributes of that space. Since the long-term plan is to use this equipment year round with student staff performing the set up, the setup has to be simple and robust but provide premiere quality results."
Custom installation of film projection and audio systemsDuring the installation period, the team set up the backstage area at the National Theatre as a makeshift workshop and logistical headquarters. BL&S integrated video and audio components into "road racks" on wheels, along with temporary power distribution. The team installed connectors on the projection equipment, thereby eliminating reliance on electrical contractors. Transforming the live performance spaces involved installing projection equipment around existing lighting and audio control equipment housed in the equipment room. As temporary power outages are a common occurrence in the Dominican Republic, BL&S set up the entire projection system to run off UPS power sources. The quality of presentation at these sites now exceeds most movie houses in the U.S.
State-of-the-art festival facilitiesOn November 8, 2006 the Dominican Republic Global Film Festival presented it premiere performance, with subsequent film and video performances around the island. The event was a huge success. "What was most heartening is that shows at the universities are open free to students. It was outstanding to share that world-class cultural experience!," Cutler said.
Following the success of the 2006 event, organizers decided to expand the nation's facilities for the 2007 festival. BL&S reconfigured the university auditoriums, permanently installing all the film and video systems. The team modified screens and stage loudspeakers to allow students to set up and run movies throughout the year, yet easily adapt the room back to its normal use as lecture halls. Two additional university auditoriums were added to the festival and configured to match the facilities equipped in 2006. BL&S also played an integral role in re-establishing the long dormant Cinemateca Dominicana as a premiere showplace. BL&S further upgraded the National Theatre with the addition of a state-of-the-art digital cinema system and a specially designed electronic subtitling system. .
In keeping with President Fernandez's dream, all festival systems were permanently installed so that the world of film and video can continue to be brought to this tiny island nation year round. For the future, several more university and public facilities will be equipped as a part of the Dominican Republic Global Film Festival. Request an Estimate  Download Client List
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