Initially, the plan was to follow our subjects for several months to a year. But as time went on, it became clear that the scope needed to expand to two years. Cuba was at a crossroads, and so were its people. Every individual and family faced difficult, life-altering questions: If another nationwide protest were to break out, what would I do? Should I leave the island in search of a better future, or should I stay and fight for change? Extending the project allowed us to capture these defining moments.

 

I have built my career around filming in some of the world’s most challenging environments. In fact, my production company’s tagline is: Going further to tell powerful stories. Those experiences helped prepare me for this project, but I hadn’t filmed in Cuba for over a decade. Many of my old contacts had left the country, and there were countless new uncertainties to navigate.

 

The two most critical decisions were: Who would travel and film? And who would we follow? It was essential to have highly skilled and experienced cinematographers travel to Cuba to document our subjects’ lives. While fluency in Spanish and familiarity with Cuban culture were beneficial, the top priority was finding filmmakers who knew how to capture compelling footage while balancing the risks and challenges of working on the island.

 

Selecting our subjects took time, but in the end, we built a diverse and compelling group of individuals, each with a unique perspective and a powerful story to tell. Weaving their journeys together over two years was a challenge—but a challenge of abundance rather than scarcity.
If you’re a business, talk about how you started and share your professional journey. Explain your core values, your commitment to customers, and how you stand out from the crowd. Add a photo, gallery, or video for even more engagement.

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Stylistically, I wanted the film to rely as much as possible on visual storytelling. While traditional sit-down interviews have their place, the goal was for our subjects to show us their lives rather than simply tell us about them. Even those under severe restrictions, like Emilio and Camila, could bring us into their world from within their homes. Emilio, for example, allowed us to witness the careful preparation he undergoes before visiting his children in prison.

 

Carlos Raúl, less scrutinized by state security, had more freedom to show us his daily life and routines. Fr. Alberto’s rural location gave us a different visual texture than Havana’s tightly controlled environment. Meanwhile, Ariadna’s journey stretched across South, Central, and North America, offering a broader scope on Cuba’s ongoing crisis.

 

Throughout the film, we explored themes of time, desperation, fear, and the constant tension between patience and urgency, hope and hopelessness. I want viewers to deeply care about each of our subjects—to be immersed in their lives and struggles. And in doing so, I hope they, too, will reflect on the profound political and philosophical questions that our subjects wrestled with every day.