Billy Corben has made a career out of turning the most quintessentially insane Miami stories into compelling documentaries, from the Cocaine Cowboys depiction of the '80s yeyo heyday to The U and The U Part Two's retelling of two generations of madness and football domination by the Hurricanes.
For his latest project, Corben and his Rakontur studio have turned to an only-in-Miami story first broken by Miami New Times: the Biogenesis steroid scandal, which rocked Major League Baseball in 2013 and eventually led to the most drug suspensions in pro sports history, including a record season-long ban for the 305's own Alex Rodriguez.
The Toronto Film Festival announced this morning it will hold the world premiere next month of Corben's feature-length project on the scandal, Screwball.
"We're thrilled to be exporting Florida Fuckery to Canada — tariff-free!" Corben tells New Times.
The documentary features interviews with the key figures in the scandal, including New Times managing editor Tim Elfrink, who broke the story and co-authored with former New Times staffer Gus Garcia-Roberts a book on the case called Blood Sport: Alex Rodriguez and the Quest to End Baseball's Steroid Era.
The film fest describes Corben's project as a "true-crime dramedy" that explores how a fake doctor ended up sullying the national pastime and A-Rod's career while a gang of Miami tanning salon aficionados scammed each other and MLB for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Toronto Film Festival hasn't announced when Screwball will debut, but the festival runs from September 6 through 16.
Don't expect A-Rod to show up for the red carpet.