This film is eligible for Audience Balloting.
Cuban ballplayers are among baseball’s brightest stars but Cuban ballplayers can’t just sign out of Cuba - the US Embargo is still in place and only being strengthened under the current administration - so Cubans have to leave their homeland, often under dangerous circumstances and establish residency in a third Country like The Dominican Republic, Haiti or Costa Rica. There comes a time in every Cuban baseball players’ life where they have to decide whether they stay in Cuba and become a folk hero or if they flee their home to take a chance at the Major Leagues and a contract worth millions. A baby’s cry echoes through the darkness. A small raft crosses the Suchiate River between Guatemala and Mexico, ferrying migrants onward on their journey. A smuggler yells at a mother to quiet her baby. For one of the men on the boat, a young Cuban baseball player, this isn’t the dream he imagined. Ten months earlier, in a quiet corner of San José, Costa Rica, three Cuban baseball players train: Happy, Carlos, and Victor. Here at the rundown Estadio Antonio Escarre, they have spent the past year training long and hard, thousands of miles away from their families in Cuba. They left with dreams of signing multi-million dollar contracts and becoming famous baseball superstars, like Jose Abreu, Yoenis Cespedes, and Yasiel Puig. They’ve made huge sacrifices, not just leaving their families behind but risking their lives as well. Happy and Carlos came to Costa Rica by land from Ecuador through the harrowing Colombian jungles. But as the months advance with no MLB offers on the table for Happy, a speedy outfielder, his Cuban American agent, Gus Dominguez, no longer feels like he can afford the expense of supporting him. Happy may be cut and must decide whether to stay in Costa Rica or join other migrants and take the perilous trip north to the U.S. by land. For Carlos and Victor, two elite pitchers, the future is equally uncertain. They could be in Spring Training in a few months with millions in the bank or end up being cut and stranded in a foreign country. As mistrust grows between the players and Gus, the Houston Astros dangle a tantalizing offer but Gus holds out for more money, setting up a series of tense final showcases. Set against the backdrop of the dangerous Central American migrant trail, THE LAST OUT offers a rare window into the dark side of professional sports.
- Year2020
- Runtime84 mins
- LanguageEnglish
- CountryUnited States
- PremiereExclusive to Newburyport - Preview Screening
- NoteLive Q & A with Sami Khan and Michael Gassert starting at 8:30 pm July 19
- DirectorSami Khan, Michael Gassert
- ScreenwriterSami Khan
- ProducerMichael Gassert, Jonathan Miller, Sami Khan
- Executive ProducerMarco Vicini, Alex Brouwer, Sonia Villanueva de Brouwer, Phil Hoelting
- Co-ProducerTrogon Productions, Oscura Film, and Brew Media
- CastHappy Oliveros, Carlos O. González, and Victor Baró.
- CinematographerJonathan Miller, Michael Gassert
- EditorCarla Gutierrez, Mark Becker, Daniela I. Quiroz
- ComposerSaul Simon MacWilliams, Billy Libby, Christina Vantzou
This film is eligible for Audience Balloting.
Cuban ballplayers are among baseball’s brightest stars but Cuban ballplayers can’t just sign out of Cuba - the US Embargo is still in place and only being strengthened under the current administration - so Cubans have to leave their homeland, often under dangerous circumstances and establish residency in a third Country like The Dominican Republic, Haiti or Costa Rica. There comes a time in every Cuban baseball players’ life where they have to decide whether they stay in Cuba and become a folk hero or if they flee their home to take a chance at the Major Leagues and a contract worth millions. A baby’s cry echoes through the darkness. A small raft crosses the Suchiate River between Guatemala and Mexico, ferrying migrants onward on their journey. A smuggler yells at a mother to quiet her baby. For one of the men on the boat, a young Cuban baseball player, this isn’t the dream he imagined. Ten months earlier, in a quiet corner of San José, Costa Rica, three Cuban baseball players train: Happy, Carlos, and Victor. Here at the rundown Estadio Antonio Escarre, they have spent the past year training long and hard, thousands of miles away from their families in Cuba. They left with dreams of signing multi-million dollar contracts and becoming famous baseball superstars, like Jose Abreu, Yoenis Cespedes, and Yasiel Puig. They’ve made huge sacrifices, not just leaving their families behind but risking their lives as well. Happy and Carlos came to Costa Rica by land from Ecuador through the harrowing Colombian jungles. But as the months advance with no MLB offers on the table for Happy, a speedy outfielder, his Cuban American agent, Gus Dominguez, no longer feels like he can afford the expense of supporting him. Happy may be cut and must decide whether to stay in Costa Rica or join other migrants and take the perilous trip north to the U.S. by land. For Carlos and Victor, two elite pitchers, the future is equally uncertain. They could be in Spring Training in a few months with millions in the bank or end up being cut and stranded in a foreign country. As mistrust grows between the players and Gus, the Houston Astros dangle a tantalizing offer but Gus holds out for more money, setting up a series of tense final showcases. Set against the backdrop of the dangerous Central American migrant trail, THE LAST OUT offers a rare window into the dark side of professional sports.
- Year2020
- Runtime84 mins
- LanguageEnglish
- CountryUnited States
- PremiereExclusive to Newburyport - Preview Screening
- NoteLive Q & A with Sami Khan and Michael Gassert starting at 8:30 pm July 19
- DirectorSami Khan, Michael Gassert
- ScreenwriterSami Khan
- ProducerMichael Gassert, Jonathan Miller, Sami Khan
- Executive ProducerMarco Vicini, Alex Brouwer, Sonia Villanueva de Brouwer, Phil Hoelting
- Co-ProducerTrogon Productions, Oscura Film, and Brew Media
- CastHappy Oliveros, Carlos O. González, and Victor Baró.
- CinematographerJonathan Miller, Michael Gassert
- EditorCarla Gutierrez, Mark Becker, Daniela I. Quiroz
- ComposerSaul Simon MacWilliams, Billy Libby, Christina Vantzou