Ballplayer: Pelotero
Directed by Ross Finkel, Trevor Martin, Jonathan Paley
Producer/Editor Isaac Solotaroff will appear in person and will participate in audience Q&As following both screenings on Friday July 13 and Saturday July 14.
Producer/Editor Isaac Solotaroff will appear in person and will participate in audience Q&As following both screenings on Friday July 13 and Saturday July 14.
For 16-year-old Dominican baseball players, or Peloteros, the only real chance to escape crushing poverty comes every July 2, the day they become eligible to sign professional baseball contracts. Ballplayer: Pelotero provides an intimate portrait of two prospects as they train during the run-up to the most important day of their lives and navigate the calculating, mercenary and often corrupt elements that surround professional baseball’s recruitment of the island’s top talent. Equal parts documentary narrative and investigation, the film is a fascinating study of the global sports industry and the curious case of how the Dominican Republic—the birthplaces of stars like the SF Giants’ Juan Marichal and Felipe Alou to recent superstars such as Vladimir Guerrero and David Ortiz—has become a special farm system for the big leagues in the United States.
TRAILER
USA/Dominican Republic 2011, 72 mins. Photographed by Ross Finkel. Narrated by John Leguizamo. Strand Releasing. In English and Spanish with subtitles.
Tickets $9 for SFFS members, $11 general, $10 senior/student/disabled. Box office opens June 14 online at sffs.org and in person at SF Film Society Cinema.
 | Read the San Francisco Chronicle review "A fascinating portrait." |
“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
TRAILER
USA/Dominican Republic 2011, 72 mins. Photographed by Ross Finkel. Narrated by John Leguizamo. Strand Releasing. In English and Spanish with subtitles.
Tickets $9 for SFFS members, $11 general, $10 senior/student/disabled. Box office opens June 14 online at sffs.org and in person at SF Film Society Cinema.
July 13–19
Showtimes 3:00, 7:00 (Fri, Sat, Tues); 5:00, 9:00 (Sun, Mon, Wed) (1 pm only on July 19)
SF Film Society Cinema
1746 Post Street (Webster/Buchanan)
Showtimes 3:00, 7:00 (Fri, Sat, Tues); 5:00, 9:00 (Sun, Mon, Wed) (1 pm only on July 19)
SF Film Society Cinema
1746 Post Street (Webster/Buchanan)