THE PRICE OF SUGAR

Director Bill HANEY

           In the Dominican Republic, a tropical island-nation, tourists flock to

pristine beaches unaware that a few miles away thousands of dispossessed

Haitians have toiled under armed-guard on plantations harvesting

sugarcane, much of which ends up in U.S. kitchens. They work grueling

hours and frequently lack decent housing, clean water, electricity,

education or healthcare. Narrated by Paul Newman, "The Price of Sugar"

follows Father Christopher Hartley, a charismatic Spanish priest, as he

organizes some of this hemisphere's poorest people to fight for their

basic human rights. This film raises key questions about where the

products we consume originate and at what human cost they are

produced.

Father Christopher Hartley's human rights campaign comes to life in
this eye-opening documentary. Based in the Dominican Republic since
1992, the Anglo-Spanish priest frequents the shantytowns or bateyes
that surround his Los Llanos parish (hidden from the Santo Domingo
coastline that attracts American tourists), where he finds Haitian
workers living "at the threshold of hell" and documents his alarming
findings through photographs. According to narrator Paul Newman, cane
cutters can't leave the plantations. Since some are undocumented and
others have been relieved of identification, they can't get far either
way. Director Bill Haney began filming in the 2000s, at which point
Hartley, a disciple of Mother Teresa, brings in US doctors, creates new
housing, and encourages a strike. Haney also profiles the
politically-connected Vicini family, who control most of the cane
fields, but they don’t get to tell their side of the story, since they
refused an interview. (They also tried, unsuccessfully, to block the
film.) Further, since the Dominican Republic provides the bulk of
America's sugar supply, the brunt of the blame reaches far beyond Latin
America's borders. Described by his sister as "very competitive" and by
his father as "very difficult," Hartley doesn't back down when the
right-wing media turns Dominicans against him, resulting in protests,
property damage, and death threats. After filming ended, the Church
transferred Hartley to Ethiopia, but his efforts on behalf of his
parishioners will live on forever in this stirring film. --Kathleen C. Fennessy




In the Dominican
Republic, a tropical island-nation, tourists flock to pristine beaches
unaware that a few miles away thousands of dispossessed Haitians have
toiled under armed-guard on plantations harvesting sugarcane, much of
which ends up in U.S. kitchens. They work grueling hours and frequently
lack decent housing, clean water, electricity, education or healthcare.

Narrated by Paul Newman, The Price of Sugar
follows Father Christopher Hartley, a charismatic Spanish priest, as he
organizes some of this hemisphere s poorest people to fight for their
basic human rights. This film raises key questions about where the
products we consume originate and at what human cost they are produced.