Main content

Skip to main content

Akin's Desert

View on the Pragda STREAM site

Akin, a Cuban doctor in the Mais Médicos program posted to a remote Indigenous community in Espírito Santo, discovers in Brazil a complex landscape of affection, belonging, and political contradiction. As his daily work in primary care exposes him to the solitude, precariousness, and quiet solidarity of Brazil’s deep interior, Akin gradually becomes part of the community, even as he struggles with his own sense of displacement.

As the presidential election approaches and political tensions rise, the future of the Mais Médicos program grows uncertain. With Jair Bolsonaro’s victory and the abrupt end of cooperation between Brazil and Cuba, Akin suddenly loses the framework that legally sustains his presence and his work in the country. He is forced to choose between returning to Cuba or staying in a Brazil where he can no longer formally practice medicine.

Directed by Bernard Lessa, Akin’s Desert pays homage to the Cuban doctors who provided basic healthcare in Brazil’s most remote regions, while offering an intimate reflection on migration, racism, class, and the search for home in a country marked by deep historical inequality.