The Second Edition of the Dominican Global Film Festival will open on Wednesday November 19 with the premiere of the film “Sugar” which tells the story of a Dominican baseball player who wants to make it to the Big Leagues to pull his family out of poverty.

The presentation of the film will be attended by some 1,400 guests as well as several dominican professional baseball players from the US Big Leagues, such as Pedro Martínez, David Ortiz, Hanley Ramírez, Robinson Canó, Moisés Alou, Alfonso Soriano, Miguel Tejada, Miguel Batista, Melky Cabrera and Odalys Pérez.

The National Theater of Santo Domingo will host and bear witness on this special night to the sport that reigns in the DR: baseball - its players, its fans, the effort, the struggle, the dream.

“Sugar” is the latest film to be made by the award-winning team that made Half Nelson. In this film, “Sugar” tells the story of Miguel Sugar Santos who becomes a professional baseball player at the age of 19 when he´s recruited by the Minor League in the United States. He travels from his home in a small town in the Dominican Republic to a small town in Iowa. There he has to confront several challenges such as the language, homesickness and culture shock, despite the warm welcome of his host family

When things don´t go well with his game and he´s relegated to relief pitcher, Miguel begins to examine the world of baseball and his place in it. Finally, he begins to question his own life´s ambitions. What starts off as a typical story of a sports triumph that so often propels young athletes from rags to riches, becomes a deeper and more complex examination of what it means for these players to pursue their dreams. The very different and contrasting environments from rural Dominican Republic to rural Iowa to New York City provide the fascinating backdrops in which to explore the many angles of this very American sport and to see how it is viewed in other countries.

Attending the Premiere

Part of the film´s directorial and production team, headed by co-director Anna Boden, will attend the film´s premiere at the National Theater of Santo Domingo. The crew, traveling from the United States, includes producers Jamie Patricof and Paul Mezey. Also present will be the Dominican actors Algenis Pérez Soto - who plays the role of Miguel Sugar Santos- and Rayniel Rufino. They will be accompanied by the actor Andre Holland. Dominican José Rijo, 1990 World Series MVP, who acts in the film and has also served as the baseball consultant for it, will be another important guest.

A total of 36 feature-length fiction and documentary films have been confirmed to be screened during the second edition of the Dominican Republic Global Film Festival, which will be celebrated November 19-23, 2008. The Dominican Republic's most prestigious international film festival will simultaneously be celebrated in five cities– Santo Domingo, Santiago, Puerto Plata, Higüey and Nagua, at 10 different venues, making it an event of unprecedented proportions.

Under its motto, Global Issues, Personal Stories, the Festival – an initiative of Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE) – will bring the Dominican Republic, the best of international film, while at the same time offering opportunities for learning, professional development and the creation of professional networks. The complete program, as well as all press releases and festival updates may be found on the Festival's webpage at: www.drglobalfilmfestival.org.

Natasha Despotovic, DRGFF Director, GFDD Executive Director and FUNGLODE Vice President, and Nicole Guillemet, DRGFF Programming and Production Consultant, lead the international and multidisciplinary team that during the first edition in 2006, achieved great success by bringing high quality productions to the country. In 2007, the Festival was cancelled days before due to the devastating effects of Tropical Storm Noel.