Sosúa: Make a Better World

Prior to the outbreak of World War II, the Dominican Republic offered refuge to 800 German Jews trying to flee from the Nazi regime. This seemingly humanist gesture, extended by Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo, was not entirely altruistic—the racist Trujillo was in the midst of persecuting the nation's blacks, and he used the arrival of Europeans as a means to expand his white population. Peter Miller and Renée Silverman's Sosúa revisits this bizarre chapter in Caribbean history through an unusual vehicle: documenting the creation of a musical play about the incident. The stage production, which is put together by Broadway veteran Liz Swados, features a cast of Dominican and Jewish teenagers from the Washington Heights section of New York. Needless to say, history takes a backseat to profiles of the plucky kids who study and rehearse with aggressive passion. Miller and Silverman's film is well made, and the young performers deserve kudos for their talent and sincerity, but the musical itself is unremarkable (the score is weak and the story reduces the historical complexities). Still, this well-intended PBS-aired documentary should be considered a strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)