Filmed almost entirely in Long Beach, “Baseball’s Last Hero: 21 Clemente Stories,” an independent film about the life and times of baseball Hall of Famer and humanitarian Roberto Clemente will be aired at 7 p.m. Aug. 16 at Los Altos Grace Brethren Church, 6565 Stearns St. Tickets are $10.
Former Belmont Shore resident Richard Rossi used Poly High for many of the action and lockerroom scenes for the movie, which was filmed with a volunteer crew and cast. Clemente was a perennial all-star right fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates who died in 1972 in a plane crash while attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Nicaragua after a devastating earthquake.
The movie consists of 21 vignettes, each from a letter in his complete name Roberto Walker Clemente, starting with “r” for rookie and ending with “e” for earthquake, referring to the disaster in Nicaragua. Clemente also wore the number 21.
Rossim, who wrote and directed the film, has aired the movie in small art theaters and places such as Roberto Clemente High School in Chicago, and recently showed the film at the Wild Goose Film Festival in North Carolina.
He hopes to translate the movie into Spanish.
Two-time Olympic high jumper Jamie Nieto, who plays Clemente; Rossi; and other cast and crew will be on hand for the showing and available for questions afterward.
– Greg Mellen
