Vistas de Santo Domingo

Directed by Francisco Arturo Palau

“The three films made by Palau may be considered lost, but it is possible to see footage from his personal film archive in “Tras Las Huellas de Palau” (René Fortunato, 1985), used as b-roll material. In one of the shots, a large poster can be seen outside a theatre promoting Secrets (Frank Borzage, 1933). From this hint, we could say that some of these shots could date from that year, or the following. I have never understood how these surviving reels are not properly collected and preserved for what they are: some of our first moving images”. - Diego Cepeda