René Antonio Fortunato (born February 1, 1958) is a Dominican

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

, and producer. Fortunato is best known for his historical

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...

on Dominican government and politics. He began his career as a producer in 1985, with the production of ''In the Footsteps of Palau'' (''Tras las huellas de Palau''). Later in 1988, he gained national and international acclaim with the success of his third documentary ''April, the Trench of Honor'' (''Abril: La Trinchera del Honor''). Fortunato was awarded the Pitirre Prize for Best Caribbean Documentary in the 1990 San Juan Film Festival.

Early life

René Fortunato was born in

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. He studied Social Communication at the

University of Santo Domingo A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

from 1982 until 1985. Simultaneously, he worked for several Santo Domingo television firms and stations in different aspects of television and film production. From 1978 to 1987, he published numerous articles about film and television in Dominican newspapers and cultural supplements.

Career

Fortunato's first film ''In the Footsteps of Palau'', was a 20-minute short that told the history of the first Dominican filmmaker Francisco Palau. Palau was active in the 1920s and was a seminal figure of Dominican filmography. His second film ''Frank Almánzar: Images of an artist'', was debuted in 1987 and was about the Dominican visionary Bauhaus-trained engraver, illustrator and cultural animator Frank Almánzar. Then in 1988, he achieved national and international fame due to the success of his full-length documentary ''April, the Trench of Honor''. The documentary won Best Documentary of the Caribbean region, in the II International San Juan Film Festival. The documentary is an account of the political situation in the Dominican Republic from the death of dictator

Rafael Trujillo Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina ( , ; 24 October 189130 May 1961), nicknamed ''El Jefe'' (, "The Chief" or "The Boss"), was a Dominican dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic from February 1930 until his assassination in May 1961. He ser ...

in 1961, to the election of

Joaquín Balaguer Joaquín Antonio Balaguer Ricardo (1 September 1906 – 14 July 2002) was a Dominican politician, scholar, writer, and lawyer. He was President of the Dominican Republic serving three non-consecutive terms for that office from 1960 to 1962 ...

in 1966. Particular focus goes into the 1965 civil war and the subsequent U.S. military invasion. After the success of his documentary, Fortunato went on to make documentaries about Trujillo, Balaguer, and Juan Bosch, which bridge Dominican history and politics from the 1940s to the 1990s.

Filmography

*1985: ''Tras las huellas de Palau'' (''In the Footsteps of Palau'') *1987: ''Frank Almanzar: Imágenes de un artista'' (''Frank Almánzar: Images of an artist'') *1988: ''Abril: La Trinchera del Honor'' (''April: The Trench of Honor'') *1991: ''Trujillo: El Poder del Jefe I'' (''Trujillo: The Power of the Chief I'') *1994: ''Trujillo: El Poder del Jefe II'' (''Trujillo: The Power of the Chief II'') *1996: ''Trujillo: El Poder del Jefe III'' (''Trujillo: The Power of the Chief III'') *1998: ''Balaguer: La Herencia del Tirano'' (''Balaguer: The Inheritance of Tyranny'') *2003: ''Balaguer: La Violencia del Poder'' (''Balaguer: The Violence of Power'') *2009: ''Juan Bosch: Presidente en la Frontera Imperial'' (''Juan Bosch: President at the Imperial Border'')

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortunato, Rene 1958 births Living people Dominican Republic film directors Dominican Republic film producers Dominican Republic screenwriters Dominican Republic male writers Male screenwriters People from Santo Domingo

Early life

Career

Filmography

See also

References