José María Cabral González (b. Santo Domingo, July 24, 1988) is a Dominican film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is considered one of the most important directors of the Dominican Republic. He has directed seven feature films. Cabral Gonzalez is recognized as the first Dominican filmmaker to be selected by the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

with his movie ¨Woodpeckers¨.

Early life and family

Cabral Gonzalez originally desired to be an actor. Consequently, he began filming short films in which he acted to be the main actor, Nevertheless, his work behind the camera caught his interest, then began his journey as a director. He started financing his short films by having showings for each film in a movie theatre, renting the theatre for an hour, and selling tickets, to get a better budget for his next film. Cabral began his career in the film industry at the very young age of 18 years old. He gained recognition for his ability to tackle complex social issues through his work, establishing himself as a leading figure in Dominican cinema, he was born into an

upper-middle class In sociology, the upper middle class is the social group constituted by higher status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term ''lower middle class'', which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle-class strat ...

family, he is defined by coherence, creativity, talent, social commitment, his aesthetic sense, social commitment and his adherence to a cinematographic art that illustrates, entertains and stimulates the dissemination of history that identifies us with the past., to José María Cabral Arzeno and Ingrid Josefina González Fiallo. He is related to many prominent Dominicans such as

Oscar de la Renta Óscar Arístides Renta Fiallo (22 July 1932 – 20 October 2014), known professionally as Oscar de la Renta, was a Dominican fashion designer. Born in Santo Domingo, he was trained by Cristóbal Balenciaga and Antonio del Castillo. De la Renta ...

, Viriato Fiallo, J. Antinoe Fiallo, and

Fabio Fiallo Fabio Fiallo, in full Fabio Federico Fiallo Cabral (February 3, 1866 – August 29, 1942) was a Dominican writer, poet, politician, and diplomat, primarily known for his modernist short stories and verses, as well as being an outspoken anti-imper ...

, by his mother’s side of the family; to

Poppy Bermúdez José Armando Bermúdez Pippa (12 November 1928 – 3 December 2014), known as Poppy Bermúdez, was an Argentine-born Dominican businessman and the third CEO of J. Armando Bermúdez & Co., C. por A. after José Armando and Dom ...

and

Carmen Imbert Brugal Carmen Altagracia Imbert Brugal (b. Puerto Plata, 25 November 1955), is a Dominican jurist, author, journalist and columnist. Biography Early life and family Imbert was born to Segundo Manuel Imbert Barrera (the elder brother of General Anton ...

by his father’s side; and he is also related to

José María Cabral General José María Cabral y Luna (born Ingenio Nuevo; December 12, 1816 in San Cristóbal Province – February 28, 1899 in Santo Domingo) was a Dominican military figure and politician. He served as the first Supreme Chief of the Dominica ...

Juan Bautista Vicini Cabral Juan Bautista 'Gianni' Vicini Cabral (Genoa, 7 April 1924–Santo Domingo, 27 April 2015) was an :es:Inmigración italiana en República Dominicana, Italian Dominican businessman, chairman of Grupo Vicini. Biography Vicini was born on 7 Apri ...

Peggy Cabral Alba María Antonia Cabral Cornero (born 26 June 1947), known as Peggy, is a Dominican journalist, television host, politician and diplomat. Cabral was co-president of the Dominican Revolutionary Party from 2013 to 2020; she also was vice-ma ...

Donald Reid Cabral Joseph Donald Reid Cabral (June 9, 1923 – July 22, 2006) was a Dominican politician and lawyer. Reid became president during the "triumvirate" from December 28, 1963 to April 25, 1965. Biography Donald Reid Cabral was born in Santiago de ...

, from both sides of his family.

Ancestry

Career

Cabral started making films when he was 16 years old, making private screenings of short films to family and friends in local movie theaters, one of them, "Excexos", got national distribution in 2008. His first feature film, '' Jaque Mate'' (2011), was screened at a high number of film festivals and selected as the Dominican entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist. "Arrobá" and "Despertar" followed in 2013 and 2014, also making it into the festival circuits. In 2015 he released "Detective Willy" a comedy adventure film. Cabral premiered his last film, "Carpinteros", in January at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, a story about the realities and relationships of prisoners in Dominican jails. In 2022 he premiered Perejil, winning the Miami Film Festival Audience Award, a film not well received by Dominican audience that deny the historic event happened.

Filmography

* ''Excess'', 2008 * '' Jaque Mate'', 2011 * ''Arrobá'', 2013 * ''Despertar'', 2014 * ''

Detective Willy ''Detective Willy'' is a 2015 comedy adventure film directed by Jose Maria Cabral. The film opens in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico in the summer of 2015. It features performances by Fausto Mata, Denise Quiñones, Anthony Alvarez, Crystal ...

'', 2015 * '' Carpinteros'', 2017 * '' El Proyeccionista'', 2019 * ''Hotel Coppelia'', 2021

Carpinteros / Woodpeckers

Screened in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, Woodpeckers was the first Dominican feature film selected by Sundance. Synopsis Julián finds love and a reason for living in the last place imaginable: the Dominican Republic's Najayo Prison. His romance, with fellow prisoner Yanelly, must develop through sign language and without the knowledge of dozens of guards. The film has been selected by other festivals: * Guadalajara Film Festival, 2017 * Miami Film Festival, 2017 *

Havana Film Festival New York The Havana Film Festival New York (HFFNY) is a film festival, based in New York City, that screens cinema from across Latin America with a special focus on Cuba and its film industry. It is a project of The American Friends of the Ludwig Foundati ...

, 2017 - Winner of Havana Star Prize for Best Director

Sources cited

External links