The situations in Darfur and the Middle East have been the steady studies of documentary filmmakers over the past few years. In most cases, some sort of light has illuminated injustices.
With "The Price of Sugar," director Bill Haney is attempting to serve notice to another distressing scene in another part of the world.
Narrated by Paul Newman ("The Sting"), this documentary broaches the slave-like treatment of sugar plantation workers in the Dominican Republic.
With "Price," Haney has succeeded in putting forth an eye-opening experience for the moviegoer, as he targets the taskmasters in the fields, the executive suits at the front, and the government and media that are too fiscally frightened to put a stop to this sphere of contemptible labor.
At the heart of Haney's work are Haitian men and women who cross over into the Dominican Republic with the promise of a better life. A lot of these folks are stripped of their identities and/or rights and put to work in the fields for a million-dollar sugar company named Vicini.
A better life it is not, as the workers live in squalor and are paid next to nothing for back-breaking work in the sugar cane fields.
The only defense is a brave soul - Father Christopher Hartley - who backs down from no one and tirelessly works for better rights for the Haitians. Numerous death threats and public ridicule do nothing to slow him down in what he calls his life's work.
The incredible spirit of Hartley and the Haitians is what makes "The Price of Sugar" a quality achievement for the filmmaker. Haney captures these elements well in doing what every documentarian strives to do -- introduce the world to injustice.
• At Melwood Screening Room in Oakland Additional Information:
'The Price of Sugar'
Unrated, but PG in nature; 
