'Una Noche' Actors From Cuba Flee During Film's Tribeca Festival Premiere

UDATE: April 30th, 10:30 AM -- On Friday, April 27th the missing Cuban stars confirmed to Reuters that they are seeking political asylum in the United States. After HuffPost broke the news last Sunday that the two Cuban film stars fled en route to the Tribeca premiere of "Una Noche", the movie won awards for best cinematography and new director honors in the Narrative competition. Javier Nuñez Florian, one of the stars who is seeking asylum in the U.S., shared the award for best actor with his co-star Dariel Arrechada.

The Tribeca Film Festival premiere of "Una Noche," a film about three Cuban teens trying to escape the Communist island nation for a better life in the U.S., was marred by the disappearance of two of the film's lead stars -- who went missing as soon as their plane from Cuba touched down in Miami.

Anailin de la Rua de la Torre and Javier Nunez Florian, the 20-year-old Cuban-born actors, were flown from Cuba to the United States on Wednesday and were supposed to make their way to New York on Friday in order to promote the film. But instead, the pair stayed in Miami, according to 20-year-old Dariel Arrechada, the third star of the film who traveled with them.

"I'm here alone in New York, " Arrechada said.

The Cuban actor also told The Huffington Post that he and his colleagues are unable to reach the two actors, and do not know of the pair's current whereabouts. But Arrechada, who said his visa will expire "in a few days," insisted he will be returning to Cuba after the Tribeca festival wraps up.

"Well, at the very least, I will go back to Cuba," Arrechada said, explaining that he "has [his] reasons."

"I have my family there, my friends, my girlfriend," he said. "Here, I don't know anyone. Here, I don't know the way of life. I also don't know English very well," he said in Spanish.

This is the first time any of the Cuban-born actors have been to the U.S., the director of the film, Lucy Mulloy, tweeted in late March.

"First time out of Cuba to the US!" her tweet read.

Mulloy told The Huffington Post that she's disappointed and surprised by the actors' decision, but understands it.

"I really was thinking that they were going to come here and enjoy the festival, and I thought they would love to participate in it," Mulloy said. "They made a decision, I guess."

Mulloy, who wrote the film after visiting Cuba and meeting "so many people [who] had connections to stories about people who had left," said she's also concerned about the well-being of her actors. "I just hope that they're safe and well," she said.

But the movie stars' apparent choice to flee Cuba is not unique to the island's history. In 2008, the number of Cubans trying to escape to United States was at its highest point in more than decade, according to a report by The Economist. In the 2007 fiscal year, nearly 8,000 Cubans sought to flee to the United States and more than 3,000 were intercepted at sea, according to the same report.

Many Cubans have recently resorted to coming the U.S. by way of Mexico, while others travel in speed boats, paying up to $10,000 a head for the trip.

And it's not only movie stars who have defected. Cuba has a history of losing its Olympic athletes and baseball players when they are sent abroad to represent their country. At the 1993 Central American Games in Puerto Rico, 40 athletes from the Cuban delegation never made it back to their homeland.

Arrechada said he doesn't judge people who flee Cuba.

"That's their choice, you know?" he said of his co-stars. "That's their way of thinking. No one is forced to stay. And no one is forced to go back. If you want to stay in the United States, I think, well, stay. If you want to go back, go back. Not all of us have to stay and not all of us have to go back. It's about what you want to do with your life," he said.

But choosing to leave Cuba is not so simple for the thousands who have lost their lives escaping the island nation, which is still classified as a totalitarian communist state by the U.S. government. Historically, political dissidents have been imprisoned for making statements that contradict the communist government, and to date, the average Cuban's salary hovers around just $20 a month.

Asked if he thinks his co-stars will go back to Cuba, Arrechada said, "Well, to be sincere, I think they're going to stay."

Before "Una Noche" premiered at Tribeca, Mulloy was already developing a sequel to the film. But she said things are now more complicated.

"Yeah, it's kind of heartbreaking," Mulloy said. She added that the two actors were "absolutely" part of her plan to make a second film.

"I guess we'll see what happens. Maybe we can work something out. I'm not sure yet. It's such fresh news to us," she added.

Mulloy said she didn't foresee events unfolding as they did.

"It is surprising," she said. "I mean, they had all of their family there and it's surprising. But things can be difficult in Cuba. There's an embargo and so there's a lot of challenges for people living in Cuba."

SLIDESHOW: A Timeline of Fidel Castro's Life

Loading Slideshow

• BEGINNINGS

  As <em>The Guardian</em> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/01/fidel-castro-raul-cuba" target="_hplink">reports</a>, Cuba became the first Communist state in the western hemisphere after Castro, then a 32-year-old lawyer, leads his rebels to victory on the streets of Havana, overthrowing the regime of U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista.

• SPEECHES

  As Reuters is <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/02/19/us-cuba-castro-factbox-idUSN1922553520080219" target="_hplink">reporting</a>, Castro holds the Guinness Book of Records title for the longest speech ever delivered at the United Nations: four hours and 29 minutes, on Sept. 29, 1960. Still, even that pales in comparison to his longest speech on record: a whopping seven hours and 10 minutes, at the III Communist Party Congress in Havana in 1986.

• SMOKING

  Though the image of Castro as a cigar-chomping guerrilla fighter has become iconic, the Cuban leader actually gave up cigars back in 1985, Reuters is <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/02/19/us-cuba-castro-factbox-idUSN1922553520080219" target="_hplink">reporting</a>. "The best thing you can do with this box of cigars is to give them to your enemy," he once said.

• ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS

  According to former Cuban Security Chief Fabian Escalante, Castro is said to have survived 638 attempts on his life since he came into power. <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-castropedia-fidels-cuba-in-facts-and-figures-432478.html" target="_hplink">According to</a> <em>The Independent</em>, Castro is quoted as saying, "If surviving assassination attempts were an Olympic event, I would win the gold medal."

• LEADERSHIP

  As<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/02/19/us-cuba-castro-factbox-idUSN1922553520080219" target="_hplink"> Reuters points out</a>, Castro outlasted nine U.S. presidents, from Eisenhower to Clinton, and faced increased hostility under President George W. Bush, who tightened enforcement of financial sanctions and a travel ban.

• BASEBALL

  Though Castro was once believed to have been scouted by the New York Yankees and the Washington Senators, the rumors are false. Still, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-castropedia-fidels-cuba-in-facts-and-figures-432478.html" target="_hplink">according to</a> <em>The Independent</em>, Castro is known to be a baseball fan and excelled at the sport as a student.

• FATHERHOOD

  As Reuters is<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/02/19/us-cuba-castro-factbox-idUSN1922553520080219" target="_hplink"> reporting</a>, Castro has at least eight children. His eldest son Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, who is the image of his father and is known as Fidelito, is a Soviet-trained nuclear scientist. Daughter Alina Fernandez, the result of an affair with a Havana socialite when Castro was underground in the 1950s, escaped from Cuba disguised as a tourist in 1993 and is a vocal critic of her father's rule from her Miami radio program. Castro has five sons with his second wife Dalia Soto. Their names all begin with A. The youngest, Antonio, is the national baseball team's doctor.

• FASHION

  In his years as Cuban leader, Castro was rarely seen wearing anything other than his trademark green fatigues. Still, as <em>The Independent</em><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-castropedia-fidels-cuba-in-facts-and-figures-432478.html" target="_hplink"> reports</a>, Dutch designer Merel Van't Wout is said to have once persuaded Castro out of his fatigues and fitted him for several suits in dark blue, grey and dark green.

• CELEBRATION

  The Associated Press is <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5inUNDJOsHswaKvcqzgC6Xr7I5tEg?docId=46b55376194447e9a8b68cc81263664a" target="_hplink">reporting </a>that Castro's 85th birthday will be celebrated in his native Cuba with "Serenade to Fidelity," an extravaganza featuring two-dozen singers and musicians from nine Latin American nations.

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[Yulia R]

01:59 AM on 05/05/2012

The film they made, UNA NOCHE, is AMAZING! I saw it at the Tribeca film festival. When will it be in the cinema on general release??? This needs to be seen. It is so fresh!

[Ainsi sera groigne qui]

09:41 PM on 04/28/2012

Unable to find these persons my behind.

As many predicted the "missing" actors have surfaced in Miama, FL and plan on seeking asylum in the United States. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cuban-actors-una-noche-tribeca-lucy-mulloy-anailin-del-la-rua-javier-nunez-317759

This was the entire MO from the beginning I shouldn't wonder. Every Cuban knows the "wet foot/dry foot" policy backwards and forwards. It is the same as when Cubans are found "ship wrecked" on some Florida beach looking rather well fed, hydrated and clean for being at sea for several days. All able to pull out cell phones and or know their nearest American relative or close freinds telephone number and address.

[zenos]

11:12 AM on 04/29/2012

Apparently the two are staying with De La Rúa's uncle in Miami. I have no idea why they need an immigration lawyer because US law on the subject is perfectly clear. Of all nationalities, only Cubans have the right to stay in the US and collect a green card.

How their luggage turned up in New York is also intriguing. Booked as passengers on a connected flight through Miami, it would have normally been transferred by freight workers. Who had access to it and returned it, empty, to the hold?

Whatever the answer is, a carefully planned conspiracy seems the more likely explanation. How better to destroy the credibility of a Cuban film on a subject which the US likes to regularly and routinely lie about.

[Sixto J Sicilia Marrero]

05:12 PM on 04/27/2012

Who is the Mulloy person? Really?

--"It is surprising," she said. "I mean, they had all of their family there and it's surprising (yeah because their family is now subject to retaliation). But things can be (can be, how about unbearable), difficult in Cuba. There's an embargo and so there's a lot of challenges for people living in Cuba."

An EMBARGO there is, in which I don't believe in, but it is not the EMBARGO, better SAID, "There's a couple of SOB brothers by the name of Castro that have created a lot of challenges for the people living in Cuba:" Geez, another person who is afraid to speak her truth due to the fear of retaliation!

¡Qué pena!, Fifty-three years and counting and people expect an internal revolution of a populace stricken with learned helpness! This is why I don't believe in the Embargo. As long as the Embargo is in place, Cuban's will continue to suffer.

[Ronique Myers]

12:26 AM on 04/28/2012

Buddy... brush up on history so that you can understand why the embargo is in place. There's a thing called communism, and the US does not support it. Hence, a trade embargo was made because of the actions of radical Cubans. First kill the Fidels, then talk about lifting the necessary trade embargo.

[zenos]

08:32 AM on 04/27/2012

Still no sign of our intrepid actors, which is rather curious. Meanwhile, the film has won prizes for them at the Tribeca Festival. But how long should it take for the CIA to get them to learn their lines for the inevitable US media circus? And are they prepared for the almost certain anonymity that follows? I hope so.

[Ainsi sera groigne qui]

09:45 PM on 04/28/2012

There isn't any *sign* of them because they are laying low with "friends" until the proper legal advice can be lawyered up for an asylum petition. Letting the film's PR continue along without them can only reap benefits later on especially at any potential hearing on said petition.

[Ainsi sera groigne qui]

09:57 PM on 04/28/2012

Don't know why the mods ban my posts, but the "missing" actors have surfaced in Miama and plan to seek asylum:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cuban-actors-una-noche-tribeca-lucy-mulloy-anailin-del-la-rua-javier-nunez-317759

[JulioRivera]

11:10 AM on 04/26/2012

Special Extra Screening tonight for Una Noche.. come and see it! Get your tickets here:

http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/una_noche-film41550.html

[Glenn Wooten II]

01:20 PM on 04/26/2012

Definitely coming!! Thanks for letting us know! Can't wait to see this film. It seems very interesting!

[Gary Carroll]

09:48 AM on 04/26/2012

I worked with a Cuban American engineer who received his education in Cuba and the former Soviet Union.
He told us horror stories about Cuba and the communist system on how it crushes freedom of individual liberty and entrepreneur free markets. Has a result their nation continues to slide further and further into some abstract ‘mad max’ type society.

Take health care in Cuba as an example.
He recently had to take time off work and went back to Cuba to visit his ailing mother who was in a Havana hospital.
He told us that things are so bad in that Havana hospital that if you wanted something as simple as bed sheets you had to bring them from home.
He also said most drugs such as anti viral medicines and things like catheters, syringes are smuggled in from the US. The authorities there turn a ‘blind eye’ on this smuggling because they realize they need these items. They re-use old syringes and catheters over and over after boiling in water.
Cuba health care is Bad.

[Gary Carroll]

09:48 AM on 04/26/2012

I asked him about the movie that Michael Moore produced about how great the Cuba health care was and he said that was an absolute joke. The only people who receive good care are the communist government officials and foreigners who come down and can pay for it.
The average Cuban is not afforded the same care.

So this brings up an interesting point.

Why do the liberal elitists (particularly the ones from Hollywood and Washington) continue with their mantra on how great socialized medicine is?
Sounds more and more like ‘liberal dribble’ directed toward the ‘clueless wonders’ and the left wing nuts who support them.
Wake up America.

[zenos]

11:52 AM on 04/26/2012

So you worked with a Cuban American who told you bad thing about Cuba? What a surprise. The only question is, who is the fantasist; you or him.

[Gary Carroll]

12:15 PM on 04/26/2012

In Miami we see the medical supplies being sent back to Cuba.
It is blatantly obvious the 'clueless wonders, left wing nuts' are drooling all over themselves with liberal dribble.

[vicen3]

10:41 AM on 05/07/2012

I rather listen to a Cuban-American that has lived in Cuba than a rich guy from NYC Upper West Side, like Michael Moore

[dmoongo]

01:17 PM on 04/25/2012

Lift the embargo, allow American businessmen to pour millions into bringing back the casinos and making Cuba the vacation spot it once was. Since our economy sucks, the least we could do is revitalize theirs.

[Ainsi sera groigne qui]

09:49 PM on 04/28/2012

Florida would allow that to happen over it's collective dead body.

An international country full of beautiful people and free of US morals on gambling and so forth? South Beach would turn prompty back into the backwater it once was.

[salamanca1]

01:07 PM on 04/25/2012

Talk about your irony.

[michael429]

09:36 PM on 04/24/2012

we supported Pol Pot in exile and protected him until he died in 1996. But we still punish the people of Cuba because of cowardly politicians who know better. Disgusting.

[Ainsi sera groigne qui]

09:54 PM on 04/28/2012

Worse still the United States at various points in history supported and or at least aided: Nazis, Stalin, Osama bin Laden and countless others who have done worse, much worse because they proved "useful".

The United States has enaged in this giant pissing contest with Cuba for almost fifty years, and so far the only "winners" are the legions of Cubans who get a fast track to US citizenship upon setting foot on these shores. Fidel Castro, his brother and the rest of their ilk are leading happy lives without mostly giving the US a second thought.

China is busy throwing money around that entire area, and one can assume that includes Cuba. Just wait until China or India starts putting money into oil exploration in Cuban waters. Then the USA will have to either change it's tune.

[zenos]

12:08 PM on 04/24/2012

Following a liberal use of emotive words such as 'escape' 'flee' and 'defect', this piece glides seemlessly into outright lies and half-truths, even trotting out the old 'salary of $20 a month' mantra, which probably impresses the braindead, but not those who can place it within the context of Cuba's price structures.

Yes, it's sad that these two people should have apparently decided to stay in the US, but, like others before them, they may find that the US 'paradise' sold to them by propagandists is no such thing. But by then it may be too late to turn the clock back and find the air fare home to the families, friends and neighbours they have apparently dismissed as an irrelevance. The rashness of youth indeed.

[Liz Ryan]

10:53 AM on 04/25/2012

Why is it sad that the two young actors decided to stay in the US? It's a lot better for them than staying in Cuba, obviously, or they wouldn't have done it. Why do you think thousands of people have fled Cuba -- do you think they believed American propaganda? The rashness of youth has jack-all to do with it. Visit Cuba and let us know what you think. And by the way, $20 in Cuba buys about what $20 buys here.

[zenos]

11:42 AM on 04/25/2012

"Why do you think thousands of people have fled Cuba -- do you think they believed American propaganda?"

For the same reason that tens of thousands of people who are not Cuban emigrate to the US; they believe they'll have a better life there, whatever that's supposed too mean. Do they believe American propaganda? Obviously.

[bobwitmer]

04:13 PM on 04/25/2012

"Cuba's price structures?" What can 20 bucks a month buy? There are no Wal Marts there.

If it's so sad that these two young people want to stay in America, instead of going back to the Workers' Paradise of Cuba, perhaps you would like to take their place. See how you live on 20 bucks a month.

[zenos]

05:48 PM on 04/25/2012

"What can 20 bucks a month buy?"

$20 is equivalent to 530 CUP.

In Cuba, rice is 0.70 CUP per pound; beans are 0.32 per pound; sugar between 0.10 and 0.15 per pound; milk is 0.25 a litre; eggs are 0.15 each; potatoes and bananas are 0.40 per pound.

Health care and education is free; rents are nominal, and the food rationing system guarantees everyone a good living diet and stops any black marketeers.

Any more questions?

[unlikely44]

09:32 AM on 04/24/2012

There is no way to put a spin on this-Communism will never be a replacement for freedom and people will ALWAYS yearn for liberty. I wish our country and our leaders understood this. I would not trade all the government programs in the world for my liberty. I hope I'm not alone.

[justmyhumbleopinion]

11:39 PM on 04/24/2012

Unlikely: sadly you are mostly alone - on this site, at least. Many do not yearn for freedom but lust for power instead. Many would gladly trade in your freedom and mine to advance their discredited pathetic marxist agenda. Marxism is a ploy, a sales tool for tyranny. The edict "I am to be your overlord," is not particularly appetizing to most folks, however, spout some marxist tripe and people will follow it hook, line and etc. Presumably in the eyes of the left you and I and anyone else who disagrees with the like of Castro, Stalin, Mao are too braindead to know what to do with their freedom, it must be taken away.

[cicchino21]

07:05 AM on 04/25/2012

Bitter much?

[zenos]

08:00 AM on 04/25/2012

Americans are among the most managed people on earth, although some have come to recognise the nature of this management as a conspiracy by government and corporate media to feed them lies of such a grotesque and exagerated nature that 'they must be true'.

When Americans see through the 'freedom' myth, the game will be up for the manipulators because, ultimately, liars are always brought to account and there have been recent signs of this beginning to happen in the US.

Meanwhile in Cuba, the electorate will continue to select delegates to represent them in the National Assembly, and then vote for or against them in subsequent secret ballots, and, yes, recall them at any time to acount for their actions. The Cuban media, controlled by trade unions, will continue to represent the best interests of ordinary Cubans, while Americans will continue to be ruled by millionaires who are little more than shills of the powerful corporations.

[Gary Carroll]

10:19 AM on 04/26/2012

You are NOT alone.
See my post above

[Safiya Songhai]

03:00 AM on 04/24/2012

Where can I see this movie??? Is it going to be in theaters? It looks like it's spectacular.

[ElCojonuo]

08:25 PM on 04/23/2012

They're hiding out at Chicho's house in Hialeah.

[Lechiffre]

01:45 PM on 04/24/2012

Grass . lol!

[SuperMex]

05:56 PM on 04/23/2012

As much as I may disgree with conservative folks from South Forida I certainly wish Anailin de la Rua de la Torre and Javier Nunez Florian the best of luck. Hopefully these two will join the Democratic left and support the DREAM ACT.

Good luck guys.

[Trout007]

05:51 AM on 04/24/2012

Umm. They just left a country run by the Democratic left. Why would they join with it here?

[jl4141]

04:35 PM on 04/24/2012

So you think the Cuban government is democratic. Interesting bit of pretzel logic you got going there, Kilgore.

[michael429]

09:37 PM on 04/24/2012

moronic statement.