In the mid- to late-90s, thousands of Cuban refugees attempted to cross the Florida Straits by whatever means available - small boats, homemade rafts and inner tubes. Only one in four rafters made it to U.S. shores, with tens of thousands perishing at sea. A volunteer group based in Miami called "Brothers to the Rescue" was formed to patrol the Straights in small civilian aircraft, offering aid to rafters.
On February 24th, 1996, in the midst of heightening political unrest in Cuba and in the wake of a revised U.S. policy toward Cuban refugees, the unthinkable occurred. In those 90 miles of water separating the United States from Cuba, the Cuban government authorized two military fighter jets to attack and destroy unarmed civilian American aircraft over international waters.
In the tragic aftermath, four Americans were dead, U.S.-Cuban relations once again lay in tatters, a burgeoning and promising human rights movement in Cuba was crushed, and an unlikely heroine, Maggie Khuly, would lead the victims families on a 10-year struggle to piece together what really happened and why.
Winner of the 2007 Sonoma Film Festival Award for Best Documentary, Shoot Down is the first feature length film to tell the true and complex story behind one of the most pivotal events in U.S.-Cuba relations. It is a story of diplomatic relations, human rights, the fortitude of family and the dogged passion ignited by the search for truth and freedom.