Sedona News – The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona premiere of “The League” showing July 14-20 at the Alice Gill-Sheldon Theatre.
Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Sam Pollard (“MLK/FBI”), executive produced by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson (Oscar-winning “Summer of Soul”) and Tariq Trotter (“Descendant”), “The League” celebrates the dynamic journey of Negro League baseball’s triumphs and challenges through the first half of the twentieth century.
The story is told through previously unearthed archival footage and never-before-seen interviews with legendary players like Satchel Paige and Buck O’Neil – whose early careers paved the way for the Jackie Robinson era – as well as celebrated Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Hank Aaron who started out in the Negro Leagues.
From entrepreneurial titans Cumberland Posey and Gus Greenlee, whose intense rivalry fueled the rise of two of the best baseball teams ever to play the game, to Effa Manley, the activist owner of the Newark Eagles and the only woman ever admitted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, “The League” explores Black baseball as an economic and social pillar of Black communities and a stage for some of the greatest athletes to ever play the game, while also examining the unintended consequences of integration.
“The League” will be shown at the Alice Gill-Sheldon Theatre July 14-20. Showtimes will be Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, July 14, 15, 17 and 18 at 3:30 p.m.; and Wednesday and Thursday, July 19 and 20 at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets are $12, or $9 for Film Festival members. For tickets and more information, please call 928-282-1177. Both the theatre and film festival office are located at 2030 W. Hwy. 89A, in West Sedona. For more information, visit: www.SedonaFilmFestival.org.
