It was a night to remember, without a doubt. Once-in-a-Lifetime. A heartfelt homage to the youth of the Dominican Republic who, with all their hopes and dreams and strengths shine among the best of the king of sports. The Second Edition of the Dominican Global Film Festival was inaugurated Wednesday night with the premier of the film Sugar, a North American film that tells the story of a Dominican baseball player from San Pedro de Macorís who wants to get into the Major Leagues to lift his family out of poverty.

The renowned guests walked down the red carpet, greeted by whistles and shouts of joy as they entered the National Palace. Among the 1,400 guests, there was a sizable number of important baseball players including: David Ortiz, Pedro Martínez, Sammy Sosa, Robinson Canó, Dámaso Marte, Daniel Cabrera, Julio Lugo, Ramón Santiago, Hansley Ramírez, Francisco Cordero, Rafael Soriano. The immortal Cesarin Gerónimo, Miguel Diloné, Pedro González, Osvaldo Virgil, Luis Mercedes and José Canó. Dominican President Leonel Fernández presided over the colorful event in which dozens of national and international film and entertainment celebrities were also on hand.

Hundreds of children, wearing sports uniforms, waited at the theater doors to see with their own eyes the sports idols they adored as they filed in, with cameras flashing and filming. Once in the hall, the emotion could not be contained. Before Sugar was presented, a short documentary was shown about the work and travel done over the past year by the team that organized the film festival. The report was made by the Institute of Global Media (IGM).

In the video, Natasha Despotovic, the Festival Director and Executive Director of the GFDD, explained that although there are many film festivals in the world of different size and importance, with different themes and genres, the Dominican Global Film Festival is unique among them all for various reasons. “It is the only festival that shows films simultaneously in five cities throughout the entire country; it is the only one that takes the films to public university auditoriums and that works directly with the schools. It is really extraordinary in its mission to promote the art of film as a medium to better comprehend the world and to raise awareness about contemporary global issues.

“Film is art, it is fun and entertaining, it has a message, it is action and a call to action, it is the synthesis of feelings and impressions. It is the subtle power that reaches viewers through many ways to impact their lives,” said Despotovic.

Later, several shorts were shown: Reaction, Harvest, Tolerance, Attention, Globo and Imagination, produced by the GMI team, which is an initiative of FUNGLODE and GFDD.

The Festival Director called Anne Boden to the stage. Ms Boden, co-director of Sugar, then called her film crew and actors to the stage, some of whom are Dominican. She thanked FUNGLODE and GFDD and the Festival´s honorary President, Dr. Leonel Fernández, for the opportunity to screen Sugar in the Dominican Republic. The film obviously dazzled all those present at the event.