Doc Stars of the Month: Happy Oliveros, Carlos O. González and Victor Baró, The Last Out

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Sami Khan (St. Louis Superman) and immersive producer-sound artist-director Michael Gassert’s POV-premiering (October 3, and streaming on PBS.org through November 16) documentary The Last Out “explores the shadowy nexus of pro sports and the migrant trail,” according to its accurate, yet humbly incomplete, synopsis. This riveting, multiyear portrait of collective self-sacrifice, which follows a trio of Cuban athletes who leave their home island to pursue the American (baseball) dream, is much more than the sum of any catchy logline. Above all, it’s a heartfelt look at three passionate young men — all from stable, loving, two-parent families — who would much prefer to stay put. But due to geopolitics and pro-sports hegemony when it comes to “America’s Pastime,” they are forced to swing at only the greyest of legal options. Indeed, every year hundreds of talented, US-blockaded aspirants like Happy Oliveros, Carlos O. González, and Victor Baró risk life and limb and exile to venture to Central America, lured by the (too often fool’s) gold of MLB contracts. If they manage to make it safely to Costa Rica, they can then hunker down in a no-frills camp set up by a slickster named Gus Dominguez, a Cuban-American sports agent and onetime federal convict who did time for player-smuggling over a decade ago (and perhaps even more astonishingly, agreed to participate in the film). And then they train, train some more, and hopefully audition for scouts. Eventually, they either make it to major-league heaven or, more likely and tragically, they are booted out to travel back home (or to the US-Mexico border) through hell. So, to learn all about being trailed by a camera on this harrowing path to the American dream, Documentary reached out to the intrepid threesome, who graciously agreed to serve as our October Doc Stars of the Month. Thanks to Samuel Didonato at Cinema Tropical for providing the translation during the conversation.

To read my interview visit Documentary magazine.