Cuban Rafters (2002)

The story of Cuban refugees who risked their lives in homemade rafts to reach the United States, and what life is like for those who succeed.

Directors:

Carles Bosch (as Carlos Bosch), Josep Maria Domènech

Writers:

Carles Bosch (as Carlos Bosch), David Trueba

Stars:

Guillermo Armas, Maria Celeste Arraras, Rafael Cano

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Guillermo Armas	...	Self
Maria Celeste Arraras	...	Self (archive footage)
Rafael Cano	...	Self
Fidel Castro	...	Self (archive footage)
Bill Clinton	...	Self (archive footage)
Oscar Del Valle	...	Self
Mericys Gonzalez	...	Self
Misclaida Gonzalez	...	Self
Miriam Hernández	...	Self
Juan Carlos Subiza	...	Self

Storyline

The story of Cuban refugees who risked their lives in homemade rafts to reach the United States, and what life is like for those who succeed.

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Plot Keywords:

life | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

It was originally a news video made in the mid 90s, when a lot of Cuban citizens started to try arriving at the USA by sea. Years later, the director and the director of photography tracked down the people of the video and filmed them at their new lives.

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Connections

Featured in The 76th Annual Academy Awards (2004)

User Reviews

Definitely not the most powerful documentary ever, but still moving

This is the story of many different Cuban lives intertwined, as they all hope of one day escaping Castro's communism and achieving the American Dream. However, the degree to which they achieve this varies widely. Some, like Rafael Cano are able to persevere and put their faith in God, and achieve the dream. However, another young woman who moves to Albuquerque becomes involved in drugs and falls into the depths of poverty, and is eventually even disowned by her own sister. She even says at one point that she wants to go back to Cuba, because it is "her own country." For this character, the American lifestyle was a lot less glamorous than it seemed from the outside.

I don't believe the film was making an overt political statement. Although it did show the passion with which these young men and women so desperately wanted to leave Cuba, it also portrayed the United States as villainous, with Clinton telling Cubans to go back to their own country, etc.

I wish the film had shown us more about the lifestyles these characters led in Cuba before fleeing to the U.S. From what I could tell, it seemed as if the only thing that excited Cuban people was the prospect of escaping to the "freedoms" offered by the United States. For instance, when someone was leaving the village with his or her raft, the entire village gathered around and bid him farewell, and then people proceeded to follow him with bikes. It was almost as if a president were passing by on a motorcade. So, I was really interested in learning about Cuban life under Castro, but I would imagine it is definitely not as mundane as the film (inadvertantly?) makes it out to be.

Overall: 6 stars out of 10

Details

Official Sites:

Bausan Films [Spain]

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

12 April 2002 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Cuban Rafters

Filming Locations:

Cuba

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,111, 27 July 2003

Gross USA:

$16,783

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$23,539

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bausan Films, Buenavida Producciones S.L., Televisió de Catalunya (TV3)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1