A pair of Cuban actors bound for the Tribeca Film Festival in New York last week to premiere their film about Cuban defectors went missing, surfacing in Miami seeking asylum over the weekend. My irony bot’s bow tie wouldn’t stop spinning, but then I told him this was just life imitating art and he shorted out.
Actress Anailin de la Rua and actor Javier Nunez, cast members of “Una Noche” (“One Night”), broke their silence Friday night in a TV appearance on the Miami-based Spanish language channel America TeVe.
You may notice that Latin Americans are not noted for their creative titles.
“Una Noche” follows three Cuban teenagers who try to escape their homeland by sea on a raft to start a new life in Miami. De la Rua and Nunez, who fell in love during filming, play a brother and sister, but only one of them survives the risky journey.
Whoa whoa whoa. Hey, Reuters, how about a “spoiler alert?”
The pair said their real-life decision to leave Cuba stemmed from the success of the film and invitations to travel to festival premieres – Berlin in February and then New York.
They spent six days in Germany in February, their first overseas trip, but returned to Cuba and only began to think of leaving the island permanently when they got news of the invitation to New York.
“In part it’s hard to leave your family and friends behind,” said de la Rua, who has two sisters and divorced parents in Havana. “But at the same time you do it so you can help them. There’s no future in Cuba.”
The actors, both aged 20, said they were surprised by the film’s success, especially as it was their first – and only – acting roles. They were 15 when they auditioned separately for the film, and then spent two years preparing for their roles after being selected by the film’s director Lucy Mulloy. [reuters]
I don’t know, 15? That seems a little young. I’m all for political asylum, but we’re all stocked up on former child actors here. If I’m president, they only get to stay if we can send Danny Masterson to Castro.
[banner image via Deadline]