Spanish with English Subtitles
UK (Exeter)
Peru
Mientras todo iba pasando (While it was all happening) is a short documentary film that follows a young Peruvian woman as she recounts her experiences of supporting friends to access abortions. In Peru, abortion is illegal in almost every single circumstance and so this film seeks to explore the experiences of navigating clandestinity and trying to create safety and care in a context that actively criminalizes abortion. The film explores the ethics of what can and cannot be said and purposefully avoids telling a simple story of abortion access.
The film set out to explore geographies of abortion care in a context than criminalizes it. This involved documenting the stories of people who have accompanied abortions, showcasing how their traditionally overlooked role as ‘acompañantes’ [accompaniers] is pivotal in providing care and reducing damage for people who undergo abortion procedures. By following these stories, the film also explores clandestinity as a space that simultaneously endangers people who seek abortions and allows for the emergence of infrastructures of care. As the project progressed, the team grappled with the ethical implications of making these hidden experiences public through the documentary. This led to an exploration of the ethics of making a documentary about activities on the fringes of legality and the accompanying silenced stories.
The project had three aims:
1. To document the stories of people who have accompanied abortions in the context of criminalization and stigma in Peru
2. To film these stories and produce a documentary film
3. To share the documentary as a resource to raise awareness of abortion care in Peru, and to contribute to the elimination of stigma