Sugar October 23, 2008

After tackling the story of a maverick teacher in Half Nelson, film-making partners Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck go even further out on a limb with this new film about an ambitious young baseball player from the Dominican Republic. But just as their first film was not your average high school drama, nor is Sugar even close to being just another American sports movie. Instead, it's a nimble and insightful study of the persistence and reach of the American dream, which also happens to have some virtuoso ball play sequences.

Sugar (Algenis Perez Soto) is a talented young athlete enrolled in an American baseball academy in his home country. Selected to play in the US minor leagues, and billeted with a kindly Christian family in Iowa, he is the proverbial stranger in a strange land, with the knowledge that if he fails or is injured, there are hundreds of other hopefuls waiting to take his place. With understanding, humour and intelligence, Boden and Fleck gently tease out the complexity and politics of Sugar's journey, giving us a compelling insider's view. They are also bold enough to make his final destination genuinely unexpected.

Official Website: http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff/sugar