El artesano (The Artisan)

Directed by Adrián Cárdenas

Type of Project: Drama
Length: 12:48 minutes
Producer: María Altamirano
Editor: Juan Pablo Daranas Molina
Cinematographer: Lorena Durán 

The tight-knit community of Gibara, Cuba holds a ceremony for Aleyda "Doctora" González, the beloved town doctor, on the one year anniversary of her death. Daniel, a local artisan and Aleyda's widower, claims he'll go to go the cemetery but on his own time. Fearing this will never happen, Luisa, Daniel's neighbor, barges into his home, eventually nudging him out of his house. Daniel meanders through the town, encountering many locals who handle his situation differently, but collectively help him confront his loss.

Adrián Cárdenas is a writer/director and former Major League baseball player for the Chicago Cubs. After balancing the world of sports and academia for two years, he quit the game he loved to pursue an even greater love for storytelling. In 2015, he graduated Summa Cum Laude from New York University with degrees in creative writing and philosophy. He has written articles for the New Yorker and CNN, and recently received his M.F.A. in film at N.Y.U.'s Tisch School of the Arts.