“Ana Y La Distancia” tells the story of a Cuban mother, exiled in Miami, as she anxiously waits for her son who, after the anti-government protests that occurred in Cuba on July 11th, 2021, decided to cross borders to reunite with her in the United States.

Months after the anti-government protests that occurred in Cuba in July 2021, and in a kind of agreement with the Cuban dictatorship to try to calm the social pressure, the Nicaraguan government granted free visas to Cubans who wanted to leave the country. This measure, still in force, has caused a massive exodus of Cubans, who prefer to risk their lives, and pay high sums of money to the so-called “coyotes,” who guide them across Latin American borders, until they reach their relatives in the United States.

This new exodus has affected my family as much as any other Cuban family. In recent months, my family and I have received two Cuban relatives in our home who decided to fly to Nicaragua and from there, take the Latin American border routes to join us in the US. Their anecdotes of such a difficult journey are, without a doubt, terrifying and traumatic. But, our experiences as a family, and the general experiences of those waiting on this side, so that this journey does not end in a tragedy, is just as distressing.

The issue of migration across borders has been explored many times in cinema and from various perspectives. But very little, or almost nothing, has been talked about the sacrifice and anguish of those that already live in the United States, who wait and invest large sums of money to ensure that their relatives cross the borders successfully.