Cuba Story (Proof of Concept)

Tilia, a passionate and adventurous Australian woman, has been saving money all summer long with the unique dream of exploring Cuba in search of the world's best salsa dancers. She travels alone from Spain, arranges to stay in the center of Havana with a Cuban family and becomes truly intimate with the restrictive, socialist circumstances of Cuban life. But even though she is well-traveled and speaks Spanish, she encounters the complete opposite of the trip she had envisioned. Tilia becomes very ill and everyone she meets leaves her with feelings of a broken dream, except for one handsome Cuban man who gives her some medicine. Things change when she meets an Australian couple and travels six hours to Trinidad de Cuba, where she meets some New York Times journalists who recently arrived from Panama. Shortly after making a deal with them, Tilia discovers that she cannot access her bank account, so she finds herself with no money and no way back to Havana. There is no internet access, no way to make a phone call, and no Australian embassy, and her new friends have moved on to Santa Clara. Tilia struggles to find her way back to the city and spends six unplanned weeks in Cuba, without money, risking everything to survive and try to get a flight home. This is a true story of self-discovery, survival and the tragedy of contrasting worlds.