Film Screening:

Ballplayer: Pelotero

(Ross Finkel, Trevor Martin, and Jon Paley, 2011, USA/Dominican Republic, 77 min, in Spanish and English w/ English subtitles, Color)

In the run-up to the most important day of their lives, two young Dominican baseball players confront competition and corruption to achieve their Big-League dreams. For 16-year-old Dominican baseball players, or Peloteros, the only real chance to escape crushing poverty comes every July 2nd, the day they become eligible to sign professional baseball contracts. Ballplayer: Pelotero provides an intimate portrait of two prospects as they navigate the calculating, mercenary and often corrupt elements that surround Major League Baseball's recruitment of the island's top talent.

"What gives Pelotero its edge is a nexus of corruption, exploitation and betrayal that transforms this well-shot, cannily edited item into an engrossing expose." -- Variety

Cost: Free and open to the public

Sponsors: The Duke-UNC Consortium in Latin American and Caribbean Studies, the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) and the Program in the Arts of the Moving Image (AMI).