Viva Cuba / Zulaika

VIVA CUBA, 2005, Cuba, 80 min. Dir. Juan Carlos Cremata. Malú (Malú Tarrau Broche) and Jorgito (Jorge Milo) are two kids who promise each other a lifetime friendship despite their squabbling families. When Malu’s Grandma dies and her mother decides to leave Cuba, the kids escape in search of Malú’s birth father. In Spanish with English subtitles.

ZULAIKA, 2003, Curacao, 78 min. Dir. Diederik Vann Rooijen. This simple docu-drama follows young teen Zulaika (Shurmaily Martina) as she struggles with a life of poverty, trying to help her grandmother run the neighborhood store they operate from the backdoor of their kitchen. Sweet and moving. In Papiamento with English subtitles.