We spoke with the director of the film “The Last Game” Matt Dooley about filmmaking.
What drew you to create this film?
Many on our film crew grew up Oakland A’s fans, which is one of the smaller but most loyal fanbases in the sport of baseball. As rumors spread in early 2023 about the team’s potential departure to Las Vegas, I decided to start looking for a team to put together and capture memories of our team’s most dedicated fans. What followed was a year of filming, leading up to the penultimate game in Oakland in September of 2024. This community of fans is unique, spirited, and joined together through their memories and love of the A’s, and that core idea of community through this team, is what we wanted to represent and share with the rest of the world, now that it is no more.
What does filmmaking mean to you?
Filmmaking is about creating empathy in others for me. Stories should connect us, or make us feel or learn something, whatever that idea is. A successful film stirs emotion and drives positive change in people and thus hopefully, in communities and cultures.
What advice would you give students or beginners that want to make films?
I’ve always remembered advice that I read in another filmmaking book – “K.I.S.S.” – or rather, “Keep It Simple Stupid”. I always try to follow that mantra even when dreaming of complex plots and characters, there should be a throughline or core to each person and event in your story that’s easily connectable and understandable to an audience. It’s a great way to keep yourself grounded!
What films do you watch again and again?
I watch a wide variety of documentary and narrative films. I’ve recently gone down a sci-fi rabbit hole, watching “Apollo 11”, “Firefly”, “Andor”, “Terminator Zero”, and “Primer”.
Thanks Matt! “The Last Game” will screen on Sunday, September 14th at 1:30pm as part of our “Play Ball!” double bill with the short film “The Final Out.” Full event details are here: https://mosaicfilmfest.com/schedule/
The documentary trailer is available to view here: https://youtu.be/1Mr2ILXxFL8
You can get tickets for the #2025mwff here: https://filmfreeway.com/MosaicWorldFilmFestival/tickets
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