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In August 1994, in a startling concession, Fidel Castro opened up Cuba's coastal borders, inviting citizens who wished to leave the country to do so. Some 50,000 people took him up on the offer, jamming onto dangerous makeshift rafts and setting sail for Miami. Some of the rafters - known as balseros - made it to America. Others perished. Still others were picked up by the Coast Guard at sea, and taken to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay. Nominated for an Academy Award® this year for Documentary Feature, BALSEROS tells the stories of seven rafters over the course of seven years, from their departures from Cuba through relocation in the United States. Featuring intriguing footage shot in Cuba during a dramatic period in its history, as well as interviews, emotional telephone conversations and video updates between balseros and their families back home. BALSEROS follows four men and three women to America, where most are relocated by social workers to unfamiliar cities. In chronicling the bittersweet dramas of families torn apart, and in some cases reunited, the interwoven stories show the emotional toll exacted on these desperate people, who are willing to risk their lives and leave behind loved ones in the elusive hope of attaining a better life. While several balseros approach a modest attainment of the American Dream, others are not nearly as successful. The balseros featured in the film include: Misclaida Gonzales, who left Havana with her boyfriend, Juan Carlos Subiza, only to spend nine months in the camp at Guantanamo Bay. Through the refugee assistance program, she and Juan Carlos settle in Hartford, Conn., but she quickly becomes disillusioned, and has an affair with a fellow refugee. Misclaida relocates to Albuquerque, N.M., where she turns to selling drugs to support herself. Juan Carlos Subiza, who gets a job at an auto repair shop after settling in Hartford. Despite his failed relationship, he works diligently to establish himself as an upstanding resident, surrounding himself with good friends, and moving into a place he calls home. Having obtained U.S. resident status, Subiza and his new girlfriend return to Havana to visit his family. Mericys Gonzales, a woman forced to turn to prostitution in Cuba to earn American dollars from tourists. She uses her money to buy raft construction materials and pay for labor, but in her first attempt to leave, the raft is wrecked at sea and she has to return. Gonzales finds a new job, which allows her to put prostitution behind her, and later wins "el bombo," a raffle for U.S. visas, receiving permission to travel with her young daughter to America. Upon her arrival, through the help of the refugee assistance program, she finds her sister Misclaida in Albuquerque, N.M. Oscar Del Valle, a street-savvy Cubano who leaves his wife and young daughter behind in Havana. Skilled as a sculptor, he has a hard time finding a suitable job in the U.S. With the help of a refugee placement program, Del Valle relocates to the Bronx, where he works as a janitor and handyman, and later does some "watchdog" work. He earns enough money to buy a car and move to Philadelphia. Since his arrival in America, Del Valle has not contacted his wife and daughter in Cuba. His wife remarries, although his daughter still misses him. Guillermo Armas, whose wife and daughter have been living in Miami for five years. He yearns to join them, but his application for a visa has been repeatedly declined by U.S. immigration. Armas' only option is to set out for the U.S. on his own homemade raft, and he is eventually reunited with his family. Armas and his family are living happily in America; he works for Office Depot in Miami, where he has received the MVP Employee of the Month award. Miriam Hernandez, a loving mother who leaves behind her young daughter with her mother in Havana. Like other balseros, she survives the perilous journey and is held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. Hernandez believes in the American Dream, and hopes her newfound opportunities will enable her to bring her daughter to the United States. Hernandez finds a husband with whom she has a baby girl. She continues to search for a way to bring her older daughter from Havana to America. Rafael Cano, who has modest hopes for life in America. He dreams of having a car, a house and a good wife. Cano builds a raft, and enlists the aid of local young men to help him set sail, but they throw him overboard and steal his raft. His dream shattered, he's forced to swim ashore. In his second attempt to leave, he shares a raft with Juan Carlos and Misclaida. Upon his arrival in the U.S., the refugee assistance program relocates him to Nebraska. Cano severs contact with his family in Havana, gets a job at a local frozen meat factory, and is injured when he is hit by a car. Ultimately, he finds his calling as a born-again Christian, and relocates to Texas. BALSEROS is an HBO/Cinemax Documentary Films presentation of a Televisio de Catalunya & Bausan Films Production; directed by Carles Bosch and Josep M. Domènech; edited by Ernest Blasi; producer for Bausan Films S.L., Loris Omedes; executive producer, Maria-Jose Solera; executive producer for TVC, Tom Roca. For CINEMAX Reel Life: consulting editor, Geof Bartz; associate producer, Danielle Schleif; supervising producer, Nancy Abraham; executive producer, Sheila Nevins. Academy Award® and Oscar® are registered trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. |
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