The Travel Agent

(Pequeñas mentiras piadosas)
Niccolò Bruna | Documentary

2015 | 87 minutes | Cuba, Spain, Italy

From her tiny office overlooking the U.S. Interests Section, 58-year old Lourdes counsels thousands of Cubans seeking a U.S. travel visas. She coaches them on answering tricky questions, fine-tuning their stories so they have a better chance of succeeding.

Synopsis

From her tiny office overlooking the U.S. Interests Section, 58-year old Lourdes counsels thousands of Cubans seeking a U.S. travel visas. She coaches them on answering tricky questions, fine-tuning their stories so they have a better chance of succeeding. They come from every walk of life and from all over Cuba to unveil their own life stories at the “Oficina del amor” (Office of Love), as she's baptized it.

Despite helping others to travel, she has never been able to visit her own mother, son, brothers, grandsons, and nephews in Florida. “[I] quench the thirst of others every day, yet there is not a drop of water for me,” she says sadly. After a long wait, Lourdes’ time has finally come: her interview is set. Her dream to visit her dying mother, who emigrated during the sixties, has never been so close. Will she be able to travel and finally overturn her destiny of forced separation?

Citation
Main credits

Bruna, Niccolò (film director)
Bruna, Niccolò (screenwriter)
Ciocca, Paola (film producer)
Bona, Enrico (screenwriter)
Prandstraller, Andrea (screenwriter)

Other credits

Camera, Erik Delgado Ordonqui, Niccolò Bruna; editors, Adrià Laheurta, Enrico Giovannone; music, Minus & Plus.


Citation
Cataloging
Keywords
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Clips
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Festivals

MiradasDOC - Special Mention for Best National Documentary
International Documentary Film Festival “Visioni dal Mondo” Italy - Student Jury Award
Biarritz Latin American Film Festival
DocsBarcelona Pitching Forum
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DIRECTOR: Niccolò Bruna

NATIONALITY: Cuba, Spain, Italy

YEAR: 2015

GENRE: Documentary

LANGUAGE: Spanish

COLOR / B&W: Color

GRADE LEVEL: High School, College, Adults

SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: NOT AVAILABLE

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