This Q&A report from TFF 2009 was first posted on April 24, 2009:

"When you go back," he said, his voice trembling, his hand shaking just slightly, "And see the way your family lives, it hurts, that it's been so bad. Yet they're so close." He took a moment to compose himself.

It was a powerful moment during the Q&A after last night's screening of The Lost Son of Havana, an equally powerful film about displacement, regret, and the connection between identity and homeland. The man speaking was Luis Tiant, the famous MLB pitcher who was a star with the Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, and Boston Red Sox. Following a screening of the film last night at the AMC Village 7, Tiant walked towards the front of the theater to take questions from the audience. As he made his way forward, he was greeted with a standing ovation, and a chant all too familiar to him from his days in Beantown. "Lu-is! Lu-is! Lu-is! Lu-is!"

Not for nothing had this reaction been provoked. The Lost Son of Havana is a heart-wrenching documentary about Tiant, a man who left Cuba in 1961 to play baseball in Mexico, and then never returned, as there was no professional baseball league in Cuba, and Cuban citizens could not leave Cuba after the revolution. Having his sights set higher than Mexico, Tiant ended up pitching in Major League Baseball, starting his career with the Cleveland Indians. He became a star, but he never went back home. That is, until he met filmmaker Jonathan Hock 47 years later. Hock and his producers, the Farrelly Brothers, arranged it so that Tiant could get back into Cuba, along with the filmmakers, for a brief stay. Tiant's emotional journey back to Havana, and his reconnection with lost friends and relatives, provides for a powerful emotional impact.

After the film, Tiant fielded a few questions, and it was the question about how his life changed after he returned from his trip to Cuba that provoked his tears. He also was asked about his thoughts on the embargo, to which he cited former Senator Elizabeth Dole's comment, "If something doesn't work for fifty years, it has to change." He was talking about the embargo, but he could just as easily have been talking about his absence from his homeland.

Watch clips from the film now:


 

The Lost Son of Havana will premiere on ESPN tonight (Monday, August 10) at 10 pm ET, with a replay on ESPN Classic on August 23 at 8 pm ET.

ESPN hosted an online chat with Luis Tiant last week.

Hock's film was the first acquisition of the Festival, as reported by Variety. Congratulations, ESPN and Jonathan!

Read more Festival Q&As.