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Original Film Title: El Adiós de la Esperanza
Director’s Name: Lieter Ledesma
Writer’s Name: Iliana Lavastida, Grethel Delgado, Wilma Hernandez
Producer: Iliana Lavastida, Aida Levitan, Darcy Borrero, Silvio Campos, Grethel Delgado, Jesus Hernandez, Wilma Hernandez, Rafael Marrero, Camila Mendoza
Country of Origin: United States
Country of Filming: United States
Language: Spanish
Runtime: 51 minutes
Film Description:
“Journey to Hope” (Official Selection of the 40th Miami International Film Festival) recreates the experiences lived by five of the children that make up the group of 14,000 minors who 60 years ago were sent to the US without their parents in a mass exodus that was carried out secretly.
Eduardo, the boy from eastern Cuba who at the age of 12 became the father of his younger brother, with whom he traveled, had to hold three jobs while he was studying because he had promised his mother to make all necessary sacrifices to achieve higher education.
Aida, the girl born in Havana who grew up in a home of divorced parents with her mother and brother, for whom the adventure of arriving to a new country stimulated her dreams and the desire to do transcendental things despite having been exposed to many challenges.
Enrique, originally from a mountainous region in the center of the island, had grown up in the peaceful environment of the countryside, with the warmth of his parents and grandparents, a very tightknit family. When he arrived in Miami, he was transferred to an orphanage where he faced rejection because of his origin and not knowing English.
Tony, originally from Havana, began to realize that his classmates were disappearing every day, and everyone wondered what was happening. His mother promised him a vacation trip to the US, but the time of the trip became indefinite, and it took him many years to reunite with his parents.
Eddy remained frightened by the images that on television showed summary trials, executions, shootings, so he resignedly accepted the idea of separation and traveled to the unknown land where they sent him.
Eduardo, Aida, Enrique, Tony and Eddy revisit in their memories the day and place from which they left, recreate the impression of that abruptly interrupted childhood, travel to the places where they were received and describe the feeling of growing up lacking the warmth of home.
In this short film we discover what became of their lives.