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Jewish Journal (Los Angeles)
"Has elements of 'West Side Story,' Jewish refugees in a strange land, and civics lessons on American diversity, all rolled together into one sweet film." - more
New Jersey Jewish Standard
"Award-winning filmmakers Peter Miller and Renee Silverman shot their hour-long 'making-of' documentary as Ms. Swados and her team auditioned, coached, and directed the 20 teens into first learning about the history of the Dominican city called Sosua, the Holocaust, and the brutality of Dominican strongman Rafael Trujillo, and then turning that knowledge into a musical." - more
Latina Lista
"In Washington Heights, Dominicans and Jews live side by side but don’t interact with one another. Coming together for the musical, forced these young people to set aside their bias of one another and learn who the other really is." - more
Jewish Link of New Jersey
"The movie was phenomenal. It was great to see the camaraderie between the Dominicans and the Jews who worked together to tell such an inspiring story.” - more
Reform Judaism
"A testimony to the power of working towards a shared goal to bring together people who otherwise might cross the street to avoid one another." - more
Jewish Exponent (Philadelphia)
"The end product is a 56-minute chronicle of the difficulties in giving birth to a play, bridging cultural divides and learning from both the mistakes and the successes of the past." - more
Ponte al Día (Latin News and Opinion)
"Actualmente este grupo latino comparte la zona con uno de los barrios judíos más antiguos de la ciudad. La fuerte presencia por parte de los dos grupos es evidente, al igual que la fuerte división entre ambas comunidades. Es aquí donde se desarrolló la historia detrás del documental ‘Sosúa: Make a better world’, filme que retrata el detrás de cámaras de una obra musical protagonizada por adolescentes judíos y dominicanos de Washington Heights." - more
DVD Verdict
"Sosúa is what you'd expect…and it isn't. As you'd expect, the film follows the evolution of musical from its initial discussions to opening night. What you might not expect is that the emphasis isn't the music, but rather the history, one that still resounds in Washington Heights today." - more
Jewish Women's Archive
"This fascinating movie provides great insight into the magic of theater as well as into a little known aspect of Shoah history ..." - more
School Library Journal
"Following the tradition of Mad Hot Ballroom and Brooklyn Castle, filmmakers Peter Miller and Renée Silverman give us a window into the lives of precocious kids and teens, who ... learn to overcome the challenges of their socioeconomic background and forge new paths. Perfect for social studies units on the Holocaust, Latin American history, or Hispanic Heritage Month, this film can also be enjoyed by budding actors and theater enthusiasts." -
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Manhattan Times
"After four years, the revolutionary Sosúa production will put on its final performance ..." - more
The Jewish Daily Forward
"Only in New York could a troupe of Jewish and Dominican kids team up with a Broadway legend on a musical production about a Latin dictator’s rescue of Jews during the Holocaust. But it’s a true story. And a new documentary called "Sosua: Make a Better World” chronicles the collaboration of 20 prickly teens in Washington Heights with stage giant Elizabeth Swados on a play about the unlikeliest of subjects: The 1938 rescue of 800 German Jews by Dominican strongman Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. Sosua was the Dominican town where the refugees eventually settled." - more
Diario Libre (Anibal de Castro, Ambassador to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic)
"The film explores diversity and breaks down the boundaries between two communities in Washington Heights, united by an episode in history..." - more
Manhattan Times
"... Most importantly, our children, working together, will not just sanctify the memory of the Holocaust, but bring the promise of Sosúa home, transforming their own lives and relationships through experiential, authentic learning and, in the process, meld the next generation of leaders while building and knitting our uptown community." - more
The Jerusalem Post
"An uplifting Holocaust escape story has become a tool to unite a mixed community of Jews and Dominicans." - more
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