''Elián'' is a 2017 documentary film directed by Ross McDonnell and Tim Golden, produced by Irish documentary filmmaker Trevor Birney, and executive produced by

Alex Gibney Philip Alexander Gibney (; born October 23, 1953) is an American documentary film director and producer. In 2010, ''Esquire'' magazine said Gibney "is becoming the most important documentarian of our time". Gibney's works as director include '' ...

. The film details the story of young Cuban

Elián González Elián González Brotons (born December 6, 1993) is a Cuban technician who, as a child, became embroiled in a heated international custody and immigration controversy in 2000 involving the governments of Cuba and the United States, his father Ju ...

and features exclusive interviews with Elián and his family in Cuba and Miami, particularly Elián's father, Juan Miguel, and his cousin Marisleysis, who had cared for Elián while he was in Miami. The film was co-produced by Fine Point Films and Jigsaw Productions and features a voiceover by

Raul Esparza Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...

Synopsis

González's mother, Elizabeth Brotons Rodríguez, drowned in November 1999 while attempting to leave Cuba with González and her boyfriend to get to the United States. The

U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was an agency of the U.S. Department of Labor from 1933 to 1940 and the U.S. Department of Justice from 1940 to 2003. Referred to by some as former INS and by others as legacy INS, ...

(INS) initially placed González with maternal relatives in Miami, who sought to keep him in the United States against his father's demands that González be returned to Cuba. A United States district court ruling that only González's father, and not his extended relatives, could petition for asylum on the boy's behalf was upheld by the

11th Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (in case citations, 11th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following U.S. district courts: * Middle District of Alabama * Northern District of Alabama * ...

. Elián's father Juan Miguel comes to the United States to claim his child, and Janet Reno orders a pre-dawn raid to take the boy from the home of his Miami relatives in

Little Havana Little Havana ( es, Pequeña Habana) is a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. Home to many Cuban exiles, as well as many immigrants from Central and South America, Little Havana is named after Havana, the Capital (political), capita ...

on April 22, 2000. Elián returns to Cuba with his father in June 2000. Elián grows up in Cuba and forms a friendship with

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

Release

The film premiered on April 21, 2017 at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

. It opened in limited release in May, and was set to appear on

CNN Films CNN Films is a motion picture division of CNN under Warner Bros. Pictures. originally launched in 2012. Its first film, ''Girl Rising'' premiered in spring 2013 in the United States. History On October 8, 2012, CNN announced the creation of CNN F ...

in August 2017.

Awards & nominations

References

External links

*
''Elián''
at

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elián (film) 2017 documentary films 2017 films American documentary films Irish documentary films English-language Irish films 2010s Spanish-language films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films