Voices of the Sea

Illuminating the real struggles of the Cuban people with unique access and empathy.

Film Signature Image
Series
POV
Premiere Date
September 3, 2018
Length
90 minutes
Funding Initiative
Open Call
  • Award laurels-r Created with Sketch.
    2018 New York International Latino Film Festival-Best Documentary Film
    • Producer/Director

    Kim Hopkins

    Kim is a graduate of the National Film and Television School, UK. In 1999, she directed the feature documentary Man in the Sand (BBC2), recounting the story of singer/songwriter Billy Bragg’s search for the legend Woody Guthrie. In 2002, Kim directed Wanted, a feature documentary funded by UK Film Council, A&E/WDR/Soros. Wanted premiered at… Show more Locarno, London and Viennale festivals, and told the story behind a suspected Native American serial killer. Kim spent a decade making television for the BBC, C4, and Discovery. In 2012, Kim produced, filmed and directed Hotel Folly - Folie á Deux (IDFA, Cambridge & Vilnius) for BBC Storyville, which focused on the human cost of the banking crisis. Kim was instrumental in the formation of the Documentary Department at Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisión, Cuba. Show less

    Producer

    Capella Fahoome Brogden

    Capella is an award-winning producer best known for her character-driven films that document the powerful stories of the human spirit. Her producing credits include The Euphoria Project (Houston WorldFest, Santa Fe Film Festival, Maryland Film Festival); Lost in Woonsocket (SXSW; OWN’s Super Soul Sundays); and creating producer of Random 1 (an… Show more original A&E TV series). The independent feature documentary Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey, which she produced, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, was closing night of the San Francisco International Film Festival and the opening night of Silverdocs Film Festival, won the Audience Awards at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival, Palm Springs, and New Hampshire Film Festivals and broadcast on Independent Lens on PBS. Capella is excited about her projects that give a voice to cultures and communities that may not otherwise be heard, including Voices of the Sea: A Cuban Odyssey, which chronicles a family in a remote fishing village in Cuba and their struggle to keep the family together, while Notown documents the Flint Water Crisis from inside an extremely affected home of a young family. Capella is from Detroit and a product of an activist family. She is a graduate of Detroit Public Schools and University of Michigan. Show less

    Other ITVS Films
    Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey
    Producer

    Margareta Szabo

    Margareta wears two hats as both producer and actress. Acting credits include a recurring role in NBC series Emerald City. After graduating out of the University of Theatre and Media Arts (Budapest), Margareta went on to study English literature and philosophy at Pazmany Peter Catholic University. In 2012, Margareta co-founded Labor of Love Films Ltd.… Show more Her first foray into production was Hotel Folly - Folie a Deux, a feature documentary for BBC Storyville. Hotel Folly told the human cost of the banking crisis. Hotel Folly premiered at IDFA. Margareta is currently producing her second feature documentary, Voices of the Sea: A Cuban Odyssey. Margareta is a Berlinale Talents 2016 alumna, and a Future Producer School 2016 alumna, a mentoring program for emerging producers run by Sheffield Doc Fest. Show less

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    The Film

    In this tiny, remote Cuban fishing village, virtually every family has a relative living abroad and everyone is utterly dependent on the sea. Dilapidated Russian trucks ferry water to a population lacking drinking water, the shops are empty and basic transportation is nonexistent. Voices of the Sea is the story of a 30-something woman longing for a better life. Her first husband, and the father of her two eldest sons, drowned trying to escape Cuba on a raft with 30 people on board (only one survived). She’s tried to escape once herself, and now wants to try again.

    As the USA vies for Cuba’s favor, like most Cubans, she is afraid that the Cuban Communist party, even while opening up trading links, will consolidate its control over the people. Ailing but still strong in spirit, her much older second husband loves his community, cherishes friendships, his fishing craft, and childhood memories of learning to fish with his father. He focuses on passing on his craft to their teenage son. The tension between husband and wife — one desperate to leave, the other content to stay — builds after her younger brother and the couple's neighbors escape. Will she throw her fate to the sea again?

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