Great news for Marcel Beltran! Last weekend, his documentary La opción cero, which was screened during last year's World Cinema Amsterdam and co-supported by Go Cuba!, won two international prizes at Fidba in Argentina and MiradasDoc in Tenerife, Spain.
La opci贸n cero
The images of Cubans venturing across the sea to Florida in rickety boats are still etched in our memories. Since that route has been closed, Cubans who no longer see a future in their own country have to travel a very different route to reach the United States. They fly to Guyana and then trudge north via Brazil or Venezuela and subsequently Colombia. It is a dangerously risky journey leading through dense jungle. Many find themselves stranded in Panama, eventually ending up as illegal immigrants in a refugee camp in Panama City.
Director Marcel Beltrán, who was a guest as a jury member at WCA in 2018, visited the refugees there to record their story. He discovered that many of them had filmed their own journeys. In his documentary he combines his own recordings in the camp with the at times shocking images made by the refugees themselves. The result is equally poignant and gut-wrenching.
Beltran: "We were able to complete this film thanks to Go Cuba! Your support for independent Cuban cinema is very important. I remember we were stuck in the middle of editing and there came Go Cuba! Thank you so much for that support, forever." A huge congratulations to Marcel Beltran. Very well deserved!
