 It began with a bus crashing through the gates of an embassy in Havana and unraveled into one of the most dramatic episodes in the history of human migrations. In a few short weeks, nearly 130,000 Cubans left their homeland in an unrelenting stream of vessels bound for America. More than two decades later, the personal stories surrounding the infamous Mariel Boatlift continue to resonate with an energy that can only be described as surreal, powerful. Weaving together these riveting stories along with rare, historical images, and footage from present-day Cuba, this film recreates this "explosion of 1980," a crisis that shook the very foundations of Cuban as well as American society.