'The Duke of the Bachata' is a documentary film about Joan Soriano, a Bachata Musician from the Dominican Republic, as he struggles to reach his goal of a hit CD and success as a musician. It is also the story of his large extended family living in the rural countryside of the Dominican Republic as they dream along with him, hoping that his success will improve their economic situation and quality of life.

The bachatas and merengues he plays have their origins in the Dominican Republic yet draw upon a variety of musical influences from regions of Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Soriano is a practitioner of Afro-Dominican traditional salve and palo as well, and he blends these percussive styles with bachata to create a fresh sound.

Joan Soriano is now 36 and lives with his girlfriend in the Santo Domingo barrio of Villa Mella. Joan has been featured on the Rough Guide to the Bachata and on the documentary Santo Domingo Blues as well as performed and recorded with big name bachata musicians such as Joe Veras and Zacarias Ferreira. However, at 35 he still has not had his own hit and is feeling the pressure now to make it big more than ever. Within the last few years, a music producer named Benjamin de Menil from IASO Records has begun recording a CD of Joan's music and is now moving toward the CD's completion with high hopes that it will be a hit.

'The Duke of the Bachata' is saturated with music, Dominican culture, and intimate portraits.

Information from the festival's website