''Elián'' is a 2017

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

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 ''T ...

. The film details the story of young Cuban

Elián González Elián González Brotons (born December 6, 1993) is a Cuban engineer and politician. As a six-year-old child, he was at the center of a high-profile international custody dispute between family members and involving Cuba and the United States. ...

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, Raül, and Raüll are forms of a common first name in Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan. The name is cognate of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph and the French ...

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 (INS) initially placed González with paternal 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. 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 () is a Neighborhoods in Miami, 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), ...

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 politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

Release

The film premiered on April 21, 2017 at the

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

. It opened in limited release in May, and was set to appear on CNN Films in August 2017.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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''Elián''
at

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

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