Baseball Great Clemente Focus of Feature Film

A feature film on the life of former Pittsburgh Pirate baseball star Roberto Clemente is set to start filming this fall in Puerto Rico and various U.S. locations. A native of Puerto Rico, the slugging outfielder died in a 1972 airplane crash while on a humanitarian mission to earthquake-ravaged Nicaragua. The first Latino elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame, Clemente won the National League’s Most Valuable Player award in 1966. David Saperstein, author of the novel used for the movie “Cocoon,” is writing the screenplay, to be produced by Arriba Films. The movie is scheduled to be released to coincide with the July, 1994, major league baseball All-Star Game in Pittsburgh and the unveiling of a statue of Clemente at Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium.

Encouraged by the success of its weekly Spanish-language program, “MTV International,” Music Television is preparing to launch a 24-hour, Spanish-language cable network, “MTV Latin America,” next fall. Plans call for the programming to be sent via satellite to more than 3 million homes with cable in the United States, Mexico, Central America and South America.

Cristina Aceves, host of the weekday public affairs program “Los Angeles al Dia” for five years and most recently featured on “Al Mediodia,” is now news anchor of “Noticias 34, Edicion Nocturna,” seen weeknights at 11 on KMEX. She replaced Eduardo Quezada and Teresa Quevedo, who continue to anchor the 6 p.m. newscast. Aceves was born in Chihuahua and lived in Mexico until she moved with her family to El Paso to study broadcasting and journalism. She later earned a master’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

Taking over as host of “Los Angeles al Dia” is Dr. Aliza Lifshitz, health reporter for KMEX and the Univision network. She has appeared on such national programs as “TV Mujer,” “Noticias y Mas,” “Cristina” and “Al Mediodia.” Born and raised in Mexico City, Lifshitz lives in Los Angeles, where she has a private practice. Of her new assignment, Lifshitz says: “Through ‘Los Angeles al Dia’ I hope to serve our community with the same compassion and the same respect for human dignity that is expected from a physician.” The program airs weekdays on KMEX at 7:30 a.m.

Jimmy Smits will star in the ABC television miniseries “The Tommyknockers,” based on the bestseller by horror novelist Stephen King. The production, filmed in Australia, is scheduled to air in early May.

Columbia Pictures has approved a sequel to director Robert Rodriguez’s action film, “El Mariachi,” which opened nationwide last month. Although the 24-year-old Rodriguez produced his first film on a $7,000 budget, he will have a little more cash to play with next time: an estimated $5 million.