Balseros

This Academy Award-nominated documentary follows the lives of a group of Cuban exiles who escaped to the U.S. in rickety rafts in 1994, during a very brief period when the Castro government made no effort to stop unauthorized emigration. Although the Cubans found refuge here, the proverbial American dream proved to be much more elusive than originally anticipated. In fact, many experienced far worse problems than those left behind, including an inability to find decent work and housing, isolation from loved ones left in Cuba, and continued difficulties assimilating to American society. One woman leaves her husband (who came with her on the journey) and begins selling drugs, while another is unable to bring her young daughter from Cuba because she incorrectly filled out immigration forms. Filmmakers Carlos Bosch and José María Doménech shot Balseros over a period of seven years, and the result is a harrowing corrective to the longstanding fantasies of immigrants arriving in America to find happiness during a rapid rags-to-riches ascent. In fact, for the Cuban refugees here it appears that navigating life in America can be more treacherous than navigating the choppy waters separating their unbearable motherland from their difficult new home. A tragic yet memorable film, this is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)