Set between the migration trail and the dark side of professional sports, The Last Out tells the story of Happy Oliveros, Carlos O. González and Víctor Baró, three Cuban baseball players who risk exile to train in Central America while pursuing his dream of playing in the Major Leagues.

Filmed over four years, the documentary focuses on people who migrate in search of a better future for their families, chronicling their harrowing journey, from the obstacles of immigration to the broken promises of shady agents.

The search for talent for Cuban players is quite different than in the United States or the Dominican Republic due to the US blockade of the island. Although each franchise maintains statistics on all players in the Cuban professional league, scouts cannot directly engage with players unless they leave Cuba. In the Dominican Republic, players are often recruited as young as 12-13 years old and signed at 16 years old. Instead, Cubans are often recruited in their late teens or early 20s and can only be hired in other countries, such as Costa Rica.

THE LAST OUT ON AMERICAN TV

Produced by Gassert, Khan and Jonathan Miller, and a co-presentation with Latino Public Broadcasting, the film will have its national television premiere on Monday, October 3, 2022 and will be available online for free on pbs.org and on the PBS Video app until November 2, 2022. 

Both the English and Spanish versions of The Last Out will have their version as part of POV's 35th anniversary season, coinciding with Hispanic Heritage Month and the start of the Major League Baseball (MLB) postseason. for its acronym in English). In addition to the film's standard subtitling, POV - in collaboration with the DiCapta audio description service - offers real-time audio interpretations for audiences with sensory disabilities.

"The Last Out amplifies how the 'American dream' is built on the hopes of black and brown people and the cheap labor of so-called economically developing nations. Gassert, Khan and Miller expertly show the dangers that the pursuit of this dream can have on vulnerable youth. It's an incredible film that we're so proud to have as a part of this season," said Erika Dilday, executive director and executive producer of American Documentary | POV in a statement.

Directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Sami Khan (St. Louis Superman) and Michael Gassert, The Last Out won a Special Jury Mention at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival, the Audience Award at the Hot Documentary Film Festival Springs, the Grand Jury Prize at the Florida Film Festival and the Best Documentary Award at the Buffalo Film Festival.