Dominican Film Festival Returns To Upper Manhattan

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS-INWOOD, NY — The Dominican Film Festival of New York will return to Upper Manhattan on July 23 for the eighth consecutive year, festival organizers announced this month.

The six-day film festival will feature more than 70 films showcasing Dominican culture that were made by Dominican filmmakers. Four different venues, three of them located Uptown, will screen the films.

The festival, which calls itself "the biggest celebration of the Dominican film industry outside of the Dominican Republic itself," will run until Sunday, July 28.

"DFFNY’s mission is to promote a new generation of Dominican filmmakers along with established ones. DFFNY strives on strengthening the vital economic and cultural relationship of the Dominican Republic with the United States. The festival’s main objective is to inform New York City audiences about Dominican cinema and its relation to the history, politics and social life of the country through an aesthetic approach," the festival's website reads.

An opening night celebration will be held at Washington Heights' United Palace Theater on July 23. The film "Lo Que Siento Por Ti (What I Feel For You)" will be screened and the first 200 people to register for tickets will gain free entrance, local City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez announced.

People interested in attending the opening night screening can register for free tickets online.

General admission tickets to the festival's screenings are $15. The tickets will get moviegoers into a single screening. Festivalgoers can also purchase a $45 pass to see an unlimited amount of screenings in a single day. Tickets to opening and closing night ceremonies that include afterparty access are sold for $125.

The four venues where films will be screened are:

• The United Palace Theater: 4140 Broadway near the corner of West 175th Street;
• AMC Empire 34: 234 W. 42nd St. between Seventh and Eighth avenues;
• Alianza Dominicana Cultural Center: 530 W. 166th St. between St. Nicholas and Audubon avenues;
• Comisionado Dominicano De Cultura En USA: 541 W. 145th St. between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue.

Check out a full list of films being shown during the festival here.