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Byline: The Register-Guard

Corvallis movie festival

picks Eugene man's film

"Change Up," a baseball documentary by Loren Mendell and Eugene filmmaker Tiller Russell, is one of 80 to be screened during the fifth annual da Vinci Film & Video Festival, to be held July 18-20 in Corvallis.

A Sports Illustrated article on Oct. 14, 2002, had this to say about the film: "Think of it as a baseball version of `Hoop Dreams.' HBO has expressed interest in buying the rights to `Change Up,' a 45-minute documentary that will remind many of the classic basketball film.

`While researching the Dodgers' Dominican Republic baseball academy earlier this year, filmmakers from Hollywood's Angry Young Ranch production company stumbled upon Alex Sosa, 18, and Pepey Rodriguez, 16, pitchers who had dropped out of high school to pursue careers in baseball.

`The movie, shot primarily in Santo Domingo, follows the two teens - both of whom throw better than 90 mph - through the ups and downs of their auditions for scouts, and it culminates in the players' signing with big league clubs.

`Much like `Hoop Dreams,' the film portrays the heavy burden placed on the boys whose families are counting on them to strike it rich. It's a compelling piece."

"Change Up," shot over the course of a year in the Dominican Republic and the United States, will be screened at 12:40 p.m. Saturday, July 19, in Austin Auditorium at Oregon State University's LaSells Stewart Center, 26th Street and Western Boulevard, Corvallis.

Founded in 2001 by Russell and Loren Mendell, Angry Young Ranch is dedicated to making hard-hitting films about socially relevant themes. The pair's first project, "Cockfight," was an award-winning documentary about the bloody and controversial world of underground rooster fighting.

Passes for the da Vinci Film and Video Festival (and all other music, art, and science events) are available at the door or can purchased in advance online at www.davinci-days.org/admission/index.htm.

- The Register-Guard