Interview:
Mike Blizzard,
producer,
"Clemente"
Counting the Austin-based filmmaker Mike Blizzard among its producers, the David Altrogge-directed documentary Clemente chronicles the life, career, and tragic death of Pittsburgh Pirates legend and Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente. The documentary traces Clemente’s introduction to baseball as a child growing in Puerto Rico; his early MLB struggles with the Brooklyn Dodgers; his breakout season with the Pittsburgh Pirates; his World Series and MVP campaigns; the racism he faced throughout his baseball career; his efforts to platform Puerto Rico and to support fellow Hispanic and Latin Americans baseball players; his commitment to humanitarian causes; and his untimely death in 1972 during an emergency relief mission to an earthquake-devastated Nicaragua. The documentary features interviews with Clemente’s sons Robert Jr. and Luis, Pittsburgh Pirates teammate Manny Sanguillén, fellow Puerto Rican MLB player Jerry Morales, Clemente biographer Dave Maraniss, sports commentator Bob Costas, actor Michael Keaton, actress Rita Moreno, and executive producer Richard Linklater. Clemente, which premiered locally at last year's SXSW Film & TV Festival, opened Oct. 3 at the AFS Cinema. Mike Blizzard and executive producer Richard Linklater will participate in a Q&A after the 6:30 p.m. Oct. 4 screening. Mike Blizzard previously directed the documentary Also Starring Austin and produced the documentary No No: A Dockumentary, executive produced the narrative drama Buck Alamo or (A Phantasmagorical Ballad), and produced the Richard Linklater-directed Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood, Hit Man, and the upcoming Blue Moon and Merrily We Roll Along. He also serves as an executive producer of Richard Linklater’s upcoming Nouvelle Vague.
Aired: Oct. 1, 2025. Web sites: https://www.vinegarhill.film/clemente https://www.facebook.com/clementedocumentary/ https://www.austinfilm.org/screening/clemente/ |
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