As a looming construction project threatens to destroy their beloved baseball field, two Sunday league teams square off for the last time.
Few films capture the ineffable rhythms and charms of our national pastime as humorously and poignantly as Carson Lund’s Eephus. Clad in uniforms that once fit and fueled by a steady infusion of beer, two rival small-town ball clubs play their final game on a baseball diamond about to be replaced by a soccer field. Old grudges flare, muscles are pulled, and beers are shared as an era of middle-aged escapism fades into the future. Centered more on the inaction in the dugout, beyond the fence, and out in the field, Eephus transcends the typical sports film by capturing the special human relationships fostered by ritual, time, and chewing tobacco. With special cameos by Bill “Spaceman” Lee and the voice of legendary documentarian Frederick Wiseman. Sportswriter Craig Calcaterra, author of Rethinking Fandom (2022) and editor of the newsletter Cup of Coffee, moderates the post-screening Q&A with Lund. (98 mins., DCP)
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Eephus, courtesy of Music Box Films.
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Program Support
FILM/VIDEO PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Ohio Humanities
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Rohauer Collection Foundation
WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Greater Columbus Arts Council
The Wexner Family
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Mellon Foundation
Every Page Foundation
Ohio Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts
CampusParc
Nationwide Foundation
Lois S. and H. Roy Chope Fund of The Columbus Foundation
The Columbus Foundation
Axium Packaging
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Ohio History Fund/Ohio History Connection
David Crane and Elizabeth Dang
Louise Lambert Braver
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Eephus