There are some stories that are almost too unbelievable to be real, but sometimes, the best people to spin those stories are those closest to the event. Sundance Film Festival World Drama entry “Un Traductor” intriguingly finds directors Rodrigo and Sebastián Barriuso bringing the story of their father’s experience to life on the big screen.
Starring Rodrigo Santoro, Maricel Álvarez, Yoandra Suárez, Nikita Semenov, Jorge Carlos Pérez Herrera, Genadijs Dolganovs, Milda Gecaite, Laura Mia, Ravelo Hernández, and Aleksandra Maslennikova, “Un Traductor” follows a Russian literature professor in Cuba, who is called in to help translate, when children affected by the Chernobyl disaster are sent to Cuba for treatment. Here’s the official synopsis:
In the wake of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Malin, a Russian literature professor at The University of Havana, is sent to translate between Cuban doctors and children sent from the USSR for medical treatment. Torn from the abstract world of academia and forced into the relentlessly real world of medicine, Malin becomes increasingly depressed. When he meets a child who tells him a story, Malin connects with the kids and finds his way through. Just as he adapts to his new job, the Berlin Wall falls and Cuba enters the deepest economic crisis the island has ever known. But Malin is now so entrenched in the lives of the Chernobyl Children that he doesn’t notice his young family suffering. He must find his way back to his wife and child through the lessons he learns at the hospital – and become a better person on the way.
“Un Traductor” is now screening at Sundance.