Eighth Edition of the “La Semana Más Corta 2015” Short Films Festival

Eighth Edition of the “La Semana Más Corta 2015” Short Films Festival
Santo Domingo, Jun 15 2015

Students from the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) will pay tribute to the memory of journalist Orlando Martínez and reveal the threats received in the 70s by the 2014 National Journalism Award, Juan Bolívar Díaz, as the focal point of the Social Communication festival: The Shortest Week 2015..

During its eighth year edition, the audiovisual festival will revolve around journalism and freedom of expression. The students advocate for the inherent right of the citizens through 12 short films, eight of which were made using cellular technology; four documentaries; 10 educational campaigns and 15 exclusive festival productions ranging from capsules, newsreels, up to the school’s institutional audiovisuals.

Several generations that are currently studying Social Communication at the Santo Tomás de Aquino Campus take advantage of these productions to use them as evidence against anyone who wants to undermine freedom of expression in the Dominican Republic and throughout the world. These audiovisuals are made with one goal in mind: to fight censorship, individual interests and information imbalance.

The Shortest Week 2015 will be held between June 15 (evening of the premiere) and June 19 (awards ceremony), in the A I auditorium of the Santo Tomás de Aquino Campus.

On this occasion, twenty professors will support and guide the student production team, which is made of 33 students of the Audiovisual Production and Corporate Communications programs. The overall production falls under the responsibility of the director of the program, Elvira Lora; teacher Onoris Metz heads the corporate communications team; filmmaker Daniel López heads the technical production; journalist Itania María directs casting; and communicators and dancers Karina García and

Elvis Guzmán head the artistic production.
The student team of The Shortest Week 2015 is headed by Inés de los Santos, the students’ general producer; Alexandra G. Roca, director of corporate communications; Jorge Uceda, audiovisual producer; Isabella Bretón, technical producer; Gabriela Peña, casting director; Marilú Hernández, red carpet producer; and, Erwin Villanueva, artistic producer.

Forums and workshops
The forums and workshops that will be held in the SMC’15 will take place in the morning in the AO2 and in the evening in Auditorium I of the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra.

For a week, the scenario will put on its finest to welcome renowned journalists such as the honoree Juan Bolívar Díaz, teacher Rafael Núñez Grassals and the National Journalism Award 2015, Margarita Cordero. Prominent figures of the Dominican film industry, such as Yvette Marichal, Fernando Báez, Pedro Urrutia, Pericles Mejía, Nereyda Castillo, Laura Amelia Guzmán, Rafael Suárez, Ernesto Alemany, José María Cabral, Tabaré Blanchard and Bladimir Abud, will attend. Those interested in corporate-visual communication may attend the presentation of the Central Bank’s Communications Director, Luis Martín Gómez, on Friday, June 19, at 11:15 a.m. In addition, graduates Karla Báez, Vianny Peña, Orlando Jorge and Jesús Peña, who currently work in front and behind the scenes in the television and film industries in the country, will share their experiences with the public.

Singing, dancing and live performances will also be present during the festival through the Seis Libres Sextet, singer Arturina Brito, Royalty and the theater companies for the communicators of the Social Communication program.

The Shortest Evening
The event will close with The Shortest Evening on July 10, at the Narciso González Cultural Center, where the winning entries of the festival in the short film and documentary categories will be screened.

On this occasion, the festival has received support from Banco Central, Banco Popular, Banreservas, the Directorate General of Cinema, Blue Country, Claro, the Excel Group, the Ramos Group, NCDN, IMC, Instituto Tecnológico de las Américas (ITLA), Peravia Motors, Camilo Then, Magazine América Studio, Kcettes, Lights and Music, Magazine America Studio, Sting Marketing, Sony, Grupo Fílmico, McDonalds, Baskin Robbins, Sophistiqueé, Laura Freitas, Gatsby, Srta Apfel, Bakers, D’Bertha Shoes, Nerk, Magazine, Bonita Fashion, Elisa Morató, Katia Ropa Casual, Salón Pamelú and D’Imagen Salón.

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