I had the opportunity to see CHANGE UP at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival. The film is a documentary about two young Dominican baseball players who have quit school to try out for Major League scouts and get signed to the Big Leagues. The two boys are best friends and pitchers: one a 17-yr-old lefty and one a 16-yr-old righty. You can't help feeling for the boys who live in situations that in the United States would be considered severe poverty. The contrast between the precariousness of their lives in the Dominican and what you see of professional baseball in the U.S. is drastic. Their families are relying on them to "make it" and bring the whole family out of poverty. The film also demonstrates the free-for-all of Major League scouting in the Dominican Republic, where there is no organized draft and where kids' best chance of being signed is before their 18th birthday. Besides the story, the images of the Dominican Republic are beautifully shot. The movie would interest people who are not necessarily interested in baseball because it is primarily a human interest story about two charming young men struggling to use their talents to help their families out of poverty.
