¡Arriba las manos!

“The plane lumbered awkwardly and roared down the runway; then it disappeared silently into the air.” (Edmundo Desnoes, Memories of Underdevelopment).

The promise of the American Dream has driven hundreds of thousands of Cubans to embark on journeys that seem straight out of a movie script. Hands Up! brings together four unusual journeys undertaken by Cubans hoping to reach the United States. Its title alludes to hijack, the English term used for the seizure of ships or aircraft. The four cases speak of a life imagined elsewhere and, above all, of the forms that the desire to attain it can take..