The New York Times Selects La Retaguardia

My co-director Olivier and I are beyond thrilled to share that La Retaguardia (The Ones Who Stay) has been selected by The New York Times' Op-Docs program, one of the world's leading platforms for short documentary films.

The film grew out of our time in Havana while working on The New Cubans, my long-term photographic project on contemporary Cuban youth culture. We arrived intending to tell one story, but another gradually emerged. As Cuba's economic crisis deepened and migration accelerated, people around us were saying goodbye to friends, partners, siblings, and parents. What stayed with us was not only the scale of the exodus, but the experience of those left behind.

The short film came about while photographing
The New Cubans series.

We witnessed our collaborators losing friends, partners, and family members at an alarming rate, prompting us to expand the project into a documentary short film.

The short documentary follows four young Cuban artists living through one of the largest waves of emigration in the country's history. Rather than focusing on those who leave, the film turns its attention to those who remain. At a moment when shortages, blackouts, and economic pressures intensify and continue to reshape daily life in Cuba, the questions at the heart of the film feel more relevant than ever.

This film would not exist without the trust and friendship of the people who welcomed us into their lives. We are deeply grateful to them and to The New York Times for helping bring their stories to a wider audience.