ABOUT THE FILM

LONG SYNOPSIS

As the new millennium began, one news story captured the attention and hearts of nearly every American. On Thanksgiving 1999, a young Cuban boy named Elián González was found floating in the Florida Straits by himself after his mother drowned trying to seek refuge in the United States. Before long, the 5-year-old González became the centerpiece of an intense custody battle between his father back in Cuba and his relatives in Miami, which, in turn, brought attention to the long-brewing tensions between Fidel Castro’s Cuba and the U.S. Throughout the news coverage, though, one voice was too young to join the heated international conversation: that of Elián himself. Eighteen years later, in the wake of Fidel Castro’s monumental death last November, ELIÁN lets the now 23-year-old tell his story, along with the other key players, of one of the biggest news events in modern times. Executive produced by Alex Gibney, Tim Golden and Ross McDonnell use Elián’s intimate details as the jumping-off point for a powerfully relevant historical account.

Directors Tim Golden, Ross McDonnell

Writer Tim Golden

Producer Trevor Birney

Executive Producers Alex Gibney, Amy Entelis (CNN Films), Kate Townsend (BBC Storyville), Mary Callery (Irish Film Board), Andrew Reid (Northern Ireland Screen), Greg Phillips (Content Media), Jonathan Ford (Content Media), Maiken Baird, Brendan J. Byrne, Richard Perello, Stacey Offman

Co-Producer Erin Edeiken

Associate Producer Oisín Kearney

Line Producers Jenny Kubo
Financiers CNN, Content Media, Northern Ireland Screen, the Irish Film Board and The Silver Fund
Production Companies Fine Point Films, Jigsaw Productions

Editors Michael J. Palmer, Hannah Vanderlan

Cinematographer Ross McDonnell

Music McKenzie Stubbert
Narrated by Raul Esparza

FESTIVALS
2017: Tribeca (World Premiere)

AVAILABLE TERRITORIES
United States

EXHIBITION FORMATS
DCP, Blu-Ray, DVD