A film about immigrants adjusting to the United States and baseball received high praises at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the dramatic category “Grand Jury Prize.”
“Sugar” is directed by the filmmakers of “Half Nelson” Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. The film was filmed partially in Burlington and Davenport, Iowa and uses both the English and Spanish language.
Lead actor in the film, Algenis Perez Soto of the Dominican Republic recently told us via email, that the festival was a phenomenal experience. Perez played the role of Miguel “Sugar” Santos and had no previous acting experience. “This is something I never imagined,” he said. “Sharing the same place with so many Hollywood stars is unbelievable.”
The most exciting part for Perez was at the end of each screening when the audience clapped, showing approval. “Those who came up to me, congratulated me for my participation and wished me luck on my new career. This was something that made me feel good,” he said.
Most baseball fans know about the great Dominican baseball players, like David Ortiz and Pedro Martinez, what the critics said was the best part of the film is that it shows the life of those who aren’t on the baseball cards.
Citing critical acclaim from the New York Times and CNN, Perez said that was very important for everyone involved in the film. “All the work we did was not in vain and they also think I did a good job as an actor,” he said. “That’s huge for me as a beginner.”
The film that defeated “Sugar” for the Grand Jury Prize was “Frozen River”, a film about human smuggling from an unknown Indian reservation between the state of New York and Quebec.
The company that produced the film is JourneyMan Pictures. They are owned by HBO and in an email with Karen Jones of HBO’s Media Relations, she said, “The release plans for the film are still being determined.”
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