Split Decision is filmmaker Brin-Jonathan Butler's cautionary examination of Cuban-American relations, and the economic and cultural paradoxes that have shaped those relations since Fidel Castro's revolution, through personal stories and interviews with the world's most famous contemporary Cuban boxers and international authorities on Cuba.
Through Vinent, Brin was introduced to Cuba's boxing elite, including a champion known as "El Chacal" , Guillermo Rigondeaux – widely known as the greatest living boxer. Indeed, Rigondeaux was a rising star of the Cuban system whose career was cut out from under him after a failed defection attempt earlier in the year. In mid 2007, in response to the defection attempt, Fidel Castro branded Rigondeaux a traitor and forbid him from competing.
In 2009 Rigondeaux tried again and successfully defected. He was taken out of Cuba on a cramped smuggler's boat and delivered to the United States, where he started a pro career and went on the win a world title faster than anyone in history. He is the former WBA super bantamweight world champion as well as former WBO and The Ring super bantamweight Unified champion after being stripped for inactivity.
Despite his winning streak, Rigondeaux remains largely isolated in America. He left his family in Cuba: a mother , a wife, a child; he left his friends and his peers; he left a familiar way of life and social system. He is not allowed to return to his homeland and is, essentially, shipwrecked now in search of the American Dream. As such, he stands in sharp contrast to his predecessors, Cuban boxers like Teofilo Stevenson and Felix Savon, who turned down offers of tens of millions of dollars in order to remain in Cuba rather than defect to America.
Drawn in by Rigondeaux's story, Brin began a journey into the heart of Cuban boxing, examining a central question: why would some Cuban Olympic gold medal- winning boxers defect for money, while others reject money to stay in Cuba?
It turns out the answer is as much about social values as it is about a sport that some call ‘the most primal and lonely in the world’.
Split Decision is Brin's cautionary examination of Cuban-American relations, and the cultural and economic paradoxes that have shaped those relations since Castro's revolution, through personal stories and interviews with the world's most famous contemporary Cuban boxers , titans of the American boxing industry , and international authorities on Cuba. The film also features interviews with award- winning authors on Cuba like Pulitzer Prize winner Steve Fainaru, S.L. Price of Sports Illustrated and the Miami Herald, National Book Award winner Carlos Eire, and Vanity Fair feature columnist Ann Louise Bardach.
