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Film Commissioner

Marianna Vargas Gurilieva is the film commissioner of the Dominican Republic Film Commission (DGCINE), an institution dedicated to regulating, developing, and promoting of the Dominican film industry.

Marianna collaborated in the preparation, revision, and modification of the Dominican film law. She has extensive knowledge and a well-established background in corporate and commercial law, specializing in legal planning and entertainment law.

Vargas worked as the Director of Business and Legal Affairs for Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios, where she acted as legal advisor for Dominican and international productions filmed in the DR. She acted as a representative for the Film Studios at the Dominican Film Council (CIPAC).

During her tenure, she has strengthened the institution by creating a structure that meets the needs of an industry that has grown more than five times its size since 2020. This industry’s revenue increased from a maximum of fifty million dollars annually to over two hundred and fifty million dollars annually from international film productions.

Her strategic vision is focused on the internationalization of Dominican cinema, achieving its visibility, providing industry-oriented training, and positioning the country as a regional film hub.

Following these guidelines and thanks to the strengthening of the three main pillars: specialized crew, locations and infrastructure, as well as inter-institutional articulation (public-private), our country is recognized as an ideal film destination. This has earned the Dominican Republic several important international nominations and awards, such as the Global Production Award for the “Film Friendly Samaná” project, received at the Marché du Film at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023. 

In March 2023, she launched the virtual platform SEDE CINE with the objective of simplifying procedures and digitizing the services of DGCINE, in order to optimize and reduce the application processes for film agents benefiting from the incentives of Dominican film law.

Marianna is member of the Council of the Conference of Ibero-American Audiovisual and Cinematographic Authorities (CAACI)) and has served as a jury member of the Platino Awards, the DALE! Award of the San Sebastian Film Festival 2022 (representing the CAACI), the Guadalajara International Film Festival, as well as several local festivals.

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