Movie shows journey of Cuban exiles

The film is scheduled to air March 16 on Cinemax.
By JOHN McMURTRIE
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
For the thousands of Cubans who flee their country every year to come to the United States, the crossing is often perilous and promises little in return.
In making a documentary about the immigrants, Carlos Bosch set out on an uncertain journey of his own.
A 51-year-old journalist for public television in Spain, Bosch, who had never made a documentary, wanted desperately to cover the story of the exodus of 30,000 Cubans in the summer of 1994. Unable to get funding, he used his own money -- what little he had -- to travel to Cuba and follow seven immigrants as they tried to forge a new life in the United States. He eventually secured funding and returned to the States seven years later, traveling across the country to chart the progress of the people he had filmed years before.
Bosch's efforts have paid off. His film, "Balseros," has been nominated for an Oscar for best documentary.
"I started crying," Bosch says, recalling seeing his film's nomination posted online. "I felt a big relief more than happiness."
HBO has bought the rights to the documentary, and it will air on Cinemax on March 16.
About the movie
"Balseros" takes its name from the Cuban rafters who head out to sea in flimsy, homemade vessels mounted atop inner tubes. In portraying the lives of a handful of these people -- Cubans who left their country when President Fidel Castro temporarily allowed them to in 1994 -- Bosch and his co-director, cinematographer Josep Domenech, have made a documentary that is both personal and epic in scale. At two hours long, its broad scope gives viewers a rare insight into the complex and highly charged issue of immigration.
"When I picked them [the subjects of the film], I didn't even have in mind that it would be a 30-minute story," Bosch says on the phone from Los Angeles, where he is publicizing his film. "Now I know how high is the price that they have to pay in order to fulfill their dream."
The Cubans in the documentary face a number of obstacles. Many cannot afford to leave their impoverished country (one woman works as a prostitute to buy wood for a raft), and those who do make it to sea risk their lives (some eerie shots show rafts adrift, their passengers missing).
When rafts are launched, however, the Cubans' good cheer and community spirit take over: Crowds parade the rafts to the shore, singing their farewells. (Music plays a big part in the film; the Cuban musician Lucrecia wrote touching and upbeat musical themes for each balsero in the film.)
Many of the Cubans who fled in 1994 were detained for months at Guantanamo Naval Base before being allowed entry into the United States. Of course, the immigrants' problems don't disappear once they've made it to the States. One couple, sent randomly to Connecticut by a Roman Catholic charity, separates. In a telling scene, they're shown arguing over whether to buy a car they can't afford. The woman eventually moves to New Mexico, where she resorts to selling drugs.
There are, however, some success stories, such as Guillermo Armas. When he first appears in the film, he is denouncing the Cuban government for denying him a visa to go to Florida to join his wife and young daughter. Desperate, after years of separation, he boards a raft and is reunited with his family in Miami, where he finds steady employment at an office-supply store.