Andre Holland, Paul Mezey, Anna Boden, Jaime Patricof, Margartita de Fernández, Leonel Fernández, Algenis Pérez Soto, Rayniel Rufino

The second edition of the Dominican Global Film Festival will be inaugurated tonight with the premier of the film Sugar, a North American film that tells the story of a Dominican ball player who wants to make it to the Big Leagues to lift his family out of poverty. Some 1,400 guests are expected to attend the Gala opening, including various Dominican professional Major League baseball players 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 Theatre will host this special night which is dedicated to the sport that reigns in the Dominican Republic and to all its players and fans, its effort, its struggle and its dreams. Dominican President Leonel Fernández will preside over the gala event.

In addition to nearly the entire crew of Sugar, with its Dominican actors, many other celebrities from all areas of the national and international film industry will walk down the red carpet. Among them will be such renowned individuals as John Singleton, considered to be one of the most daring and visionary talents from Hollywood, nominated in 1991 for a Best Picture Oscar and Best Original Screenplay; Oscar winner and producer Kenneth Kokin; Hollywood actor Steven Bauer; Esther Goris, Argentine actress known for her role as Evita; Emmanuel Jal, protagonist of the film Emmanuel Jal: War Child and Hip Hop singer; Mexican actor César Évora; Israeli actress Rana Sultan who brings to the festival Captain Abu Raed, nominated for an Oscar as the Best Foreign Language film.

An impressive list of Dominican actors will also be with us at the Festival including
Shalim Ortiz, Dania Ramirez, Juan Fernández, Celinés Toribio, Michelle Rodríguez, and Hemky Madera.

Other guests at the second edition of the Film Festival include Dominican director Laura Amelia Guzmán; directors Enrique Fernández, Ishtar Yasin and Eran Kolirin; documentary makers Lourdes Portillo and Raquel Cepeda (of Dominican origin); Uruguayan actress Virginia Méndez and producer Steven Starr, among many others.

Representatives from the private sector, the government and the diplomatic corps will also be at the gala opening. In addition, a group of promising baseball players made up of children and young people will be honored at the event.

The long-awaited event begins at 5:00 p.m. with re-broadcasts available on Channel 15, Telemicro and RNN in its Festival Rumbo Program summary which has been broadcasting for the past two weeks. Later, the FUNGLODE headquarters in Santo Domingo will host a welcome cocktail party for the Festival guests who will then be taken to the National Theatre.

The Arrival

Four television studios are set up along the red carpet to capture the excitement and broadcast it live. The transmissions will be conducted by Taina Rodríguez and Raymond Jáquez; Alberto Rodriguez and Criselmy Mercado; Isaura Taveras and Alex Macia, and Jane Santos. Jochy Santos´ radio show “El mismo golpe” will be broadcast today from the National Theatre.

Before the showing of Sugar, several short films will be screened including
Reaction, Harvest, Tolerance, Attention, Globe and Imagination produced by the Institute for Global Media (IGM) team, an initiative of FUNGLODE and GFDD.

After the premier film showing, there will be a party at the National Theatre for all the guests who will be entertained with typical Dominican music.

“Sugar” is the most recent film 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 Premier

Algenis Pérez Soto, Rayniel Rufino

Part of the film´s directorial and production team, headed by co-director Anna Boden, will attend the film´s premiere at the National Theatre 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 and Rayniel Rufino who played the role of Miguel Sugar Santos at two different ages. They will be accompanied by the actor Andre Holland. Former Major League player José Rijo will also be present at the premier in the Dominican capital. Mr. Rijo plays a role in the film and also acted as baseball consultant.

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, on 10 different screens, making it an event of unprecedented proportions. Under its motto, “Global Issues, Personal Stories,” the Festival – an initiative of Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE) and the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) – will bring to 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 for the public as well as industry professionals.

Natasha Despotovic, Festival Director, GFDD Executive Director and FUNGLODE Vice President along with Nicole Guillemet, 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 at the last moment due to the devastating effects of the Tropical Storms Noel and Olga that tore through the Dominican Republic.