Cuba is experiencing one of the most severe crises since its revolution. Longstanding economic, social and political challenges, alongside the tightening of the United States’ decades-long embargo, have pushed the country to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe.
Now Cuba faces an astonishing exodus. About 2.75 million people have left the country since 2020. Meanwhile, those still in Cuba must build their lives against a backdrop of crisis.
In 2022, we began meeting regularly with young artists in Havana to document their work. As trust between us deepened, they began to share how Cuba’s current wave of migration was reshaping their lives. In the short documentary above, “La Retaguardia” (The Ones Who Stay), we capture four people who have chosen to remain. Devon, Tomás, Elephanto and Israa are young, creative, ambitious — and haunted by the question of whether to stay or leave. Increased access to the internet and social media allows them a vivid picture of the outside world. The contrast with their lives couldn’t be more stark.
In telling their stories, our goal was to explore what it means for them to be young and Cuban in an era marked by uncertainty, absence and constant departure. We also hope to have painted an intimate portrait of a side of migration rarely shown: those who stay behind.
Olivier Côté is a director based in Montreal. Jean-François Bouchard is a visual artist working in photography, video and installations.
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