The Flight of Pedro Pan: An Untold American Story

Experience the sacrifice, the heartache and the uncertainty of the 1960s flight of more than 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban children in The Flight of Pedro Pan: An Untold American Story. This poignant documentary film from the directors of Café con Leche and Havana: Portrait of Yesteryear paints a vivid picture of the events surrounding the mass exodus. From feeling abandoned by their parents to being enchanted by a new world, the children of Operation Pedro Pan share their personal stories of the wonders and horrors that awaited them in the United States.

The Flight of Pedro Pan begins with a brief explanation of the process by which children were able to flee the communist island, a plan largely structured and implemented by Monsignor Bryan Walsh, an Irish born priest who headed the Catholic Welfare Bureau. Seen through the children's own eyes and spoken in their own words, the turmoil of Castro's Cuba in the 1960s unfolds with startling descriptions of the oppressive conditions that compelled parents to send their children, alone, to a foreign world.

"I know that if my parents did it, it was because it was the only solution," said singer Willy Chirino in retrospect of his Pedro Pan experience. "Knowing the way I am with my kids, which is probably not much different than how my parents were with me, I don't know if I would be able to . it would have been a very difficult decision for me to make." Then, following the children from their departure from Cuba to their arrival in Miami to the camps and foster homes awaiting them throughout Florida and the United States, The Flight of Pedro Pan details the different experiences encountered by the children as they adjusted to new families and lost old ones.

"At night, you had a tendency to miss your family the most and you could hear some children crying, " said Alex Azán. "It occurred to one of the counselors to play music by two very famous female Cuban singers. After two or three songs, it would have a soothing effect on all the boys. To hear a maternal voice . the beautiful singing and beautiful voices, allowed us to be able to fall asleep."

A Channel 2 Production directed by Joe Cardona and Mario de Varona, The Flight of Pedro Pan: An Untold American Story uses vintage photographs, archival footage and personal accounts to relate a story of sacrifice and survival, broken hearts and new beginnings.