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, ...
,
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
Producer or producers may refer to:
Occupations
*Producer (agriculture), a farm operator
*A stakeholder of economic production
*Film producer, supervises the making of films
**Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...
.
Fortunato is best known for his historical
documentaries 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)
, webs ...
,
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 with ...
. He studied Social Communication at the
University of Santo Domingo 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'')
See also
*
List of Dominican Republic films
This is a list of films produced in, set in, or related to the Dominican Republic, in chronological order.
1920s
1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
References
External links
* Films with the countr ...
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