Agliberto Melendez is a Dominican film director best known as the director of ''

A One Way Ticket ''One Way Ticket'' () is a 1988 Dominican drama film directed by Agliberto Meléndez. The film was selected as the Dominican entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Foreign Language Film at the 61st Academy Awards, but w ...

'' (Un Pasaje de Ida), the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

's first feature-length film, produced entirely in the Dominican Republic by a Dominican cast and crew. The film became known to American audiences after its 1988 debut in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

New Directors/New Films Festival The New Directors/New Films Festival is an annual film festival held in New York City, organized jointly by the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Established in 1972, the Festival generally selects films from first-t ...

. ''A One Way Ticket'' gained some notoriety because of its macabre subject matter; the story of would be immigrants who die in their desperate struggle to escape a fate of poverty and despair. ''A One Way Ticket'', shot under very adverse conditions, proved to everyone that it could be done. In 1979 Agliberto Melendez founded the Cinemateca Nacional, quickly becoming the meeting place for like-minded film enthusiasts. He single-handedly led the Cinemateca Nacional through very hard times but managed to stay afloat until it was finally forced to close its doors in 1986 following the election of right wing candidate

Joaquín Balaguer Joaquín Antonio Balaguer Ricardo (1 September 1906 – 14 July 2002) was a Dominican politician, scholar, writer, and lawyer who was the 41st, 45th and 49th president of the Dominican Republic serving three non-consecutive terms from 1960 t ...

. The Cinemateca Nacional introduced classics from the world cinema to a fresh and enthusiastic new audience. His perseverance and single-minded vision made Agliberto Melendez the undisputed film pioneer of Dominican Cinema. He currently teaches cinema studies in the Dominican Republic and prepares his next feature: "Del Color de la Noche" based on the life of

José Francisco Peña Gómez José Francisco Peña Gómez (6 March 1937 – 10 May 1998) was a politician from the Dominican Republic. He was the leader of the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), a three-time candidate for president of the Dominican Republic and former Mayo ...

which he began preproduction this year.

External links

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New York Times Review of One way Ticket
Dominican Republic film directors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{NorthAm-film-director-stub