To the West, in Zapata

Landi and Mercedes live in the swampy region of Zapata, the most remote and impoverished part of Cuba, centered around a protected national park. To feed his family, Landi hunts crocodiles barehanded, illegally and in secret. The stark silence is only occasionally broken by a radio reporting on the global pandemic and growing social unrest. On the shore, his wife Mercedes hums a wistful Mexican ranchera, searches for cooking charcoal, and cares for their autistic son. They exist in an unbreakable loop marked by scarcity and absence, rare encounters and repeated partings. A one-person film crew – director, cinematographer, and editor David Bim, who joins his protagonist on his solitary venture – and minimal filmmaking resources mirror the harsh reality of this intimate yet perpetually divided family. Timeless black-and-white cinematography and dense diegetic sound formally capture, with precision and stark naturalism, both the tension of solitary hunting in a hostile landscape and the fleeting moments of tenderness and connection the family trio shares – before the next inevitable separation. The film’s dual structure reflects two separate worlds: Landi’s realm of wilderness and Mercedes’s hearth-bound world, cycling endlessly. For Landi, the jungle is a daily space of survival, stripped of any exoticism. For Mercedes, her modest home is a place she’s willing to defend at any cost. They live apart in order to stay together. Without respite. Like Camus’ Sisyphus – who must be imagined as happy. Only to lighten each other’s burden. Living for the other, without the other. (Dina Pokrajac)

Awards and Festivals:
Visions du Réel (2025) – World Premiere, FIPRESCI Prize and Special Jury Award (Burning Lights Competition)