Option Zero (La opción cero)

Cuban migration to the United States has come to be associated with the balseros phenomenon, but nowadays, new migrants have come to use other means. After obtaining a visa that allows them to leave the country, many must travel the hemisphere from end to end to reach their goal. All possible routes share one common path: the dense and dangerous Darién Gap, on the border between Colombia and Panama.

In this fascinating film, a group of Cuban migrants use their mobile devices to record and stream through social networks the most intimate moments of their journey. Upon arriving at the border, they are informed about the change in policy of the so-called “wet foot, dry foot” law and are forbidden to continue.

Stranded in Panama City in an illegal situation, they are welcomed by the Pastoral Social Cáritas. In this migratory limbo, Cuban director Marcel Beltrán films the passing of the hours at the camp and is given access by the migrants to their personal recordings of the journey through the jungle, captured in over 100 hours of footage from their cell phones.