To the West, in Zapata marks the monochrome debut feature of Cuban-based filmmaker David Bim. Filmed over eight years in the swamps of Zapata, it follows Landi, a crocodile hunter, and Mercedes, his wife, as they struggle to care for their autistic son amid the pandemic’s isolation and Cuba’s social unrest. Filming entirely alone in one of the country’s most inhospitable regions, Bim crafts a a meditative, observational portrait where survival becomes a reflection on love, endurance, and marginal existence. “They live apart to stay together”, he notes ‒ a paradox that defines both the film’s structure and its emotional core. Presented at Visions du Réel, where it received both the FIPRESCI Prize and the Special Jury Prize.

David Bim studied at the Catalonia Film School (ESCAC) and later at the International Film School of Cuba (EICTV). He wrote and directed The Last Two (2015), a film based on a true story from rural Spain. Since 2017, he has developed cultural projects for Taller Chullima in Havana and exhibited his work Infinite Journey at the 2019 Havana Biennial. He holds the Chair of Advanced Studies in Fiction at EICTV and is the founder of FICCLAB. His debut feature, To the West, In Zapata (2025), won the Coup de Cœur Orlando Award at Cinéma du Réel, as well as top honors at Visions du Réel, DMZ, and Munich.