Sotto Voce

A young Jewish-Cuban researcher, Saquiel, is visiting New York and sets out to recover memories of the ill-fated SS St. Louis that left Germany in 1939 on its way to Cuba. His grandaunt was one of the Jewish refugees on board who were fleeing Nazi persecution. When the refugees were refused entry to Cuba, the U.S. and Canada, the ship returned to Europe where its passengers were doled out to countries that would take them. 254 subsequently died in the Holocaust. In his search to find out more about the voyage, Saquiel contacts Bernadette, an 80-year-old, Berlin-born author whose first love was also on board the SS St. Louis. Bemadette doesn't like to leave her New York apartment, so Saquiel contacts her by phone and email, and she reluctantly shares her story. As Bemadette recounts her memories, Saquiel assumes the place of her lover, and they embark on an affair of the imagination.