2014 Film Festival

Friday, September 19th, 2014

Welcome/Opening Statements
6:30 PM, Bullpen Theater

Actor Kerry Yo Nakagawa will join the Hall of Fame via Skype to discuss the movie American Pastime and newly found footage of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig from their 1927 barnstorming tour. The 21 seconds of found footage will be shown in the Bullpen Theater as the kickoff to the 2014 Film Festival.

Opening Film: American Pastime (1 hour, 45 minutes)
7:00 PM, Bullpen Theater

During WWII, some Japanese Americans were placed in internment camps, despite having committed no crimes. American Pastime looks at the Nomura family, which turns to baseball as a way of dealing with this ordeal. Lyle, the younger son, originally angry and rebellious over the internment, eventually finds motivation to succeed when the Topaz team challenges the local minor league team, featuring several players who are openly bigoted and hateful toward the internees. Stars Gary Cole, Aaron Yoo, and Kerry Yo Nakagawa.

Saturday, September 20th - 10:00 AM, Bullpen Theater

Heading for Home (28 minutes)

On 16th Street in Indianapolis, Indiana, stands the once proud Bush Stadium, former home to the Indianapolis Indians. Its beautiful art-deco facade has seen its share of history, including the early Negro leagues and even a Hollywood film. When the team moved downtown in 1995, the stadium and field were left vacant and falling into disrepair. Despite the efforts of smaller companies and local government, the stadium was set for demolition again and again. In 2012, a plan was proposed to adapt the stadium for a modern use: housing. So began the first adaptive reuse of a sports facility for housing in American history. Heading for Home tells the story of the stadium and the historical significance of the site for the city of Indianapolis.

Stealing Home (1 hour, 27 minutes)
To the bankrupt City of Detroit, it's a nine-acre abandoned lot. But to generations of baseball fans, it still feels like home. After Tiger Stadium was demolished in 2009, blight sprung up. But a small group of passionate fans stepped up to the plate, chopping down weeds and restoring the field where more than 200 Hall of Famers played our National Pastime. It sounds like a true feel-good story, but city officials want to sell the land. They view these volunteers as trespassers; police have ordered them to leave. But the grounds crew keeps working, tirelessly spending time, energy, and money to preserve the ball field – and with it, Detroit’s history. Can they save the field? Or will they be thrown out stealing home?

Saturday, September 20th - 1:30 PM, Bullpen Theater

The Deal (23 minutes)
Ten years ago, the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox pursued the best player in the game: Alex Rodriguez. The Babe Ruth of his time, with a pristine image and gargantuan contract, Rodriguez had but one request—he would only play for the Yankees or the Red Sox. That historic winter of rumors, controversies, and mega money is captured in The Deal, an ESPN Films “30 for 30: Short” produced and directed by The Barnicle Brothers. Using first-hand perspective from the likes of Larry Lucchino, Brian Cashman, John Hart, and Theo Epstein, The Deal takes a comprehensive look at one of baseball’s wildest trades and offers an insider’s perspective into the arms race between the Sox and Yankees and the man who stood at the center of it all, reigning MVP Alex Rodriguez.

Perfect (55 minutes)
An E:60 production from ESPN, Perfect explores the history of the 23 perfect games in major league history, one of the rarest feats in all of sport. Of the more than 200,000 major league baseball games that have been played since 1876, only twenty-three have ended in a perfect game -- twenty-seven outs with no base runners by hit, walk or error. Filled with highlights of the perfect games from the television era, the film includes current interviews with a wide range of well-known hurlers, from Don Larsen to Randy Johnson to David Cone, and takes the viewer inside the mind of the pitcher as he tries to achieve baseball immortality.

Saturday, September 20th - 3:30 PM, Bullpen Theater

A Ballpark Story (25 minutes)
A Ballpark Story follows the behind-the-scenes story of what happens at a major-league ballpark, from the final pitch of one game to the first pitch of the next. Hosted by MLB.com youth correspondent Meggie Zahneis, the film offers a glimpse of what goes into the process of running Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, everything from cleaning the stadium to the dedication of a statue of Hall of Famer Joe Morgan.

Havana Curveball (60 minutes)
Thirteen-year-old Mica is studying for his Bar Mitzvah, the Jewish coming of age rite. He takes to heart his Rabbi’s requirement for the adult responsibility to help “heal the world.” Remembering how his grandfather once escaped Nazi persecution and found refuge in Cuba, the boy launches a grand plan to send sports equipment to the poor but baseball-crazed Communist country. When he has assembled a sufficient number of goods, he learns of the U.S. embargo on Cuba, which endangers his dream. During the course of this documentary film, Mica learns that being an adult also means having to fight for one’s dreams.

Saturday, September 20th - 7:00 PM, Bullpen Theater

No No: A Dockumentary (1 hour, 40 minutes)
On June 12, 1970, Dock Ellis of the Pittsburgh Pirates threw a no-hitter. In 137 years of organized baseball, it’s the only no-hitter tossed by a pitcher under the influence of LSD. While baseball hadn’t fully embraced racial equality, the controversial Ellis was an outspoken leader who lived the expression ‘Black and Beautiful!’ His fearlessness enabled him to become a trailblazer for a new wave of civil rights. After retiring, Dock became just as outspoken about his career-long drug abuse problems. He spent decades as a counselor, helping other addicts in their recoveries. Through intimate stories and a trove of archival footage, No No: A Dockumentary brings Dock’s vibrant life to light, burnishing the legend and revealing the man behind it.

Sunday, September 21st - 10:00 AM, Bullpen Theater

Wrigley 100: A Century Celebration (1 hour, 35 minutes)
For 100 years, Wrigley Field has showcased the game's greatest players in America's most beautiful ballpark. An homage to the beloved ballpark, Wrigley 100 showcases the stories behind the great moments on Chicago’s North Side, as told by the men who made those memories, including Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Fergie Jenkins, Billy Williams, Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, Ron Santo, Hank Aaron, Mike Schmidt and many more. Over the course of its history, Wrigley Field has provided a wonderful mix of history, fun, passion and beauty.

Sunday, September 21st - 1:00 PM, Bullpen Theater

Leaving Traces (1 hour, 15 minutes)
Inspired by the 25th anniversary of Bull Durham, a team of artists converged on the Durham Bulls Athletic Park to document the legendary minor league team’s 2013 season. Leaving Traces follows the documentarians - including renowned photographers Alec Soth, Hiroshi Watanabe, Hank Willis Thomas, Kate Joyce, Frank Hunter, Leah Sobsey, and Alex Harris, and writer Adam Sobsey - as they confront the challenges of finding something new in a minor league ballpark. While techniques and output vary, this diverse group is united by baseballs (and photography’s) unique experience with time. The slow, measured movements often hide the roiling drama beneath. By interweaving stories about process and craft, Leaving Traces evokes baseball’s atmosphere and captures the struggle to make the unseen visible.

Sunday, September 21st - 3:00 PM, Bullpen Theater

5 Outs (1 hour, 15 minutes)
A historical documentary that profiles the journey of the 2003 Cubs, 5 Outs examines the team from start to finish and explores the franchise’s failure to win its first World Series title in 95 years. The 2003 Championship Series saw the Cubs holding a 3-0 lead in the 8th inning of Game 6, when chaos broke lose, ignited by an infamous foul ball incident. The incident changed the landscape of Chicago baseball forever, affecting those in and outside of the baseball community. Voiced by Golden Globe and Emmy nominee William Petersen, the documentary features interviews with players who had never before spoken about the topic. Among others, Moises Alou, Dusty Baker, and Kerry Wood explore the impact the team had on a city thirsting for a world championship.

Festival Wrap-Up
4:30 PM, Bullpen Theater