Havana, Cuba. 54th year of embargo.
From her tiny office overlooking the US Interests Section, Lourdes counsels thousands seeking a travel visa for the US. She fine tunes her customers’ stories, so they have better chances to succeed.
But despite helping others to travel, she has never been able to visit her mother, son and all family in Florida. “I quench the thirst of others every day, yet there’s not a drop of water for me” she states.
After a long wait, Lourdes time has finally come: her interview is set. Her dream to visit her dying mother was never so close.
Will she able to travel and finally overturn her destiny of forced separation?
Will she forced to leave behind Enit, her beloved lesbian partner?

The travel agent is the intimate story of the life of Lourdes, an ordinary but extraordinary woman. At the same time is an universal story: the one which is made of isolation and separation that is common to many Cubans and to anyone in the world who is forced by events to be separated from the loved ones.
The film is a tribute to the dignity of the Cuban people, always ready to face the storm with a smile. I have told about their heroic everyday life without any folklore nor filters, using the same alive and kicking material of their own desperate existence.
It is a documentary shot in the last period of the freezing relations between Cuba and the United States, during the 54th year of “bloqueo”, the economic embargo, and this is also why it is a unique document which unveils the human consequences of political choices.
The travel agent carries on my personal and human exploration of the female universe and the extraordinary resilience of women.

Director
Niccolò Bruna
Story
Niccolò Bruna, Enrico Bona, Andrea Prandstraller
Screenplay
Niccolò Bruna, Enrico Bona, Andrea Prandstraller
Director of photography
Erik Delgado Ordoqui, Niccolò Bruna
Film Editor
Enrico Giovannone, Adri? Lahuerta
Set Design
Roberto Allegro (Colorist)
Original Music
Minus & Plus
Sound
Pedro Pulido Brizuela (Presa diretta); Giorgio Ferrero e Rodolfo Mongitore (Montaggio suono e mix)
Altri credits

Maite Vitoria Daneris e Daniel Monti (traduzioni)

Cast and characters

Lourdes Gonzales Rosabal, Enit Abreu Gomez

Production Director
Cirita Longo
Organizzatore generale
Grettel Reinoso
Executive production
Adrià Lahuerta (15-L.Films, Spagna); Carlota Coloma
Producer
Niccolò Bruna; Paola Ciocca (Progetto Cataclisma); Giorgio Mari (La bottega dell'immagine). Enrico Bona, Andrea Prandstraller (Produttori associati), Enrico Giovannone ([[BabyDoc] Films]]).
Production
Associazione Culturale Progetto Cataclisma (Torino) / Niccolò Bruna, Enrico Bona, Andrea Prandstraller (Produttori associati) / 15-L. Films (Carlota Coloma e Adrià Lahuerta)
con il sostegno di Film Commission Torino Piemonte e Regione Piemonte (Piemonte Doc Film Fund - Fondo regionale per il documentario - produzione giugno 2014)
Distribution
Pragda (USA)
Assistente al montaggio
Danilo Pettinati
Festival - markets - events

In concordo nella sezione "Documentari" ai David di Donatello 2015-2016

Contacts
Niccolò Bruna
Last update: 30 March 2023