NUESTRA TIERRA
Documentary Feature · 2025
Documentary Feature
BORU
Two islands, the same sun.
A documentary that connects the Dominican Republic and Japan through migration, baseball and the people who live between both cultures.
Synopsis
Bōru, Yakyū, Pelota travels between the Dominican Republic and Japan to uncover a little-known historical bond between the two countries.
The film begins with the Japanese migration to the Dominican Republic that started in 1956, when Japanese families arrived to found farming communities, and follows the traces those communities left and the lives of their descendants, particularly in Dajabón and Constanza.
The story then reaches contemporary Japan, where many Dominican ballplayers have built their careers while adapting to a different culture, language and sporting discipline. Baseball becomes the film's great bridge: bōru, the Japanese word for “ball”, stands for the connection between two worlds.
Through testimonies, memories, farming, food, sport and identity, the documentary watches the two cultures meet and change each other, and asks what it means to belong somewhere when identity is built from more than one homeland.
Ronny A. Sosa conceived the idea in 2018, researched it for two years and shot the film in both countries in 2024. Boru won Best Documentary at the 6th Fine Arts Hecho en RD Film Festival and at the LA Docs International Film Festival, and has gathered more than 25 international laurels.
What they say
“El documental logra lo que pocos proyectos de estudio social alcanzan: exponer los matices subjetivos, revelar idearios de conjunción de valores de una u otra población y, encima de todo ello, hacerlo con humor y poesía.”
Credits
- Director
- Writer
- Producers
Ronny A. Sosa — Producer
Julio Grisanty — Producer
Biviana Bautista — Executive Producer
Yuby Hernández — Executive Producer
Ydania Ogando — Executive Producer
Hony Estrella — Associate Producer
Christian Hernández — Associate Producer
Sahyris Montero — Associate Producer
Yohannan Núñez — Associate Producer
Ann Karol Rizik — Associate Producer
Fénix Legendario Studios — Production company
Ogando Productions — Co-production company
- Cast
Marilyn Soledad de Hiromitsu
Masami Hiromitsu
Fumie Hiromitsu Román
Yoko Nishio
Misuteru Nishio
Eiji Tanioka
Kenzo Yamamoto
Juan Zapata
Mabely Jiménez
Fanny Rojas
Hony Estrella
- Crew
Raynnier Gómez — Cinematographer
Elvyn Peguero — Original Music
Angelo David Alberto — Editor
Gallery
Festivals & awards
- Festival de Cine Fine Arts Hecho en RD2026 · Mejor Documental
- LA Docs International Film Festival2026 · Best Documentary
- Indie Cine Tube Awards2026 · Best Documentary
- Indie Cine Tube Awards2026 · Best Director
- Indie Cine Tube Awards2026 · Best Editing
- Indian Independent Film Festival2026 · Best Documentary
- SFAAF South Cinematographic Academy Film & Arts2026 · Best Documentary
- Anatolia Istanbul International Film Festival2026 · Best Documentary
- All That Moves International Film Festival2026 · Best Director in a Documentary
- FICOCC Five Continents International Film Festival2026 · Best Director
- Beyond Border International Film Festival2026 · Honorable Mention
- East Village New York Film Festival2026 · Honorable Mention
- Athens International Monthly Art Film Festival2026 · Honorable Mention
- SIFF Swedish International Film Festival2026 · Best Documentary
- Festival de Cine Antigua (FCA)2026 · Finalist — Best Documentary
- Dominican Film Festival in New York2026 · Official Selection — USA Premiere
- FICOCC Five Continents International Film Festival2026 · Official Selection
- Tokyo Film and Screenplay Awards2026 · Official Selection
- Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festival2026 · Official Selection
- Kanazawa Film Festival2026 · Official Selection
- LA Asian Film Festival2026 · Official Selection
- Bocas Film Fest2026 · Official Selection
- Mesa International Film Festival2026 · Official Selection
- Global Indie Filmmaker Awards2026 · Official Selection
- IDEAL International Film Festival2026 · Official Selection
- Crown Wood International Film Festival2026 · Official Selection
- Dreamz Catcher International Film Festival2026 · Official Selection
- SEA IFF Southeast Asia International Film Festival2026 · Official Selection
- 4th Dimension Independent Film Festival2026 · Official Selection
- Love & Hope International Film Festival2026 · Official Selection
