August

Set in the Gibara region of Cuba where the director grew up and using a cast of both professional and non-professional actors, this quietly affecting directorial debut from Armando Capó is at once a coming-of-age story and a reflection of Cuba’s turbulent history. Carlos, Elena, and Mandy are teenagers living in a rural Cuba. After school gets out for the summer, they wander around, go to the beach, form crushes and misunderstandings - like teenagers everywhere. But their idyllic summer is about to be overwhelmed by forces they can’t control. It’s 1994, and Cuba is beset by a wave of emigration due to economic and social instability. The balseros, or rafters, are leaving in droves, some in homemade vessels - many perishing before they make it to their destinations. Carlos' poor yet close-knit family life and comfortable social milieu will be forever changed by the forces of history that threaten to engulf his island home. (Mill Valley Film Festival)