About the film

Synopsis

Fly So Far follows Teodora and The Seventeen in their struggle to regain their freedom. Due to the criminalisation of abortion, they have been sentenced up to 30 years in prison for having an obstetric emergency. Their testimonies and cases are evidence of the State’s violence against women, but also of collective resilience, solidarity and sisterhood.

The film is conducted by Teodora’s journey from being in prison to become an activist for women’s rights. When the film starts Teodora is still in jail, fighting for her freedom. After being imprisoned for almost eleven years she gets released, thanks to the help of the feminist movement and Human Rights organisations. Strong and determined, she continues fighting for the freedom of those women still in the Ilopango prison, as well as for their reintegration in society once released. Inside jail the women keep on resisting and waiting for their sentences to be reconsidered.

The film highlights the possibilities of resistance through collective struggle. We will closely follow the women’s journey from being victims of a misogynist and classist system that criminalises abortion no matter the circumstances, to activists fighting for women’s rights. We will see the women in their daily life inside jail, hear their testimonies and in some cases, see them going back to life outside bars.

Fly So Far is a reflection on a system that punishes women, but also about the possibilities of empowerment and resistance both from freedom and from jail.

Director’s Statement

I am a Salvadorean woman and the law against abortion goes through my body. To be a woman in El Salvador means to be potentially accused of murder and deprived of freedom if you have an obstetric labor complication, such as a miscarriage or a stillbirth. Under the Salvadorean Constitution, the criminalisation of abortion impedes us from deciding over our bodies, life and health. The State forces young girls and women to continue unwanted pregnancies even if their life is in danger or when it’s a product of rape. I couldn’t accept the institutional violence against women and girls in my country. Therefore I decided to go to the women’s prison of Ilopango and meet Teodora and the other women of The Seventeen. From the start, I felt connected to Teodora, I admired her resilience and her strength after a decade of having been unjustly imprisoned. The way she gave strength to the other women, as well as the sisterhood they have woven during these years and how they support each other in such a hostile place, inspired me to do this film. This is my way of contributing to their struggle for freedom, so their voices resonate beyond the prison walls and to reclaim autonomy over our bodies.

Producer’s Statement

Fly So Far is an urgent project. Its relevance goes beyond denouncing and searching for justice in the case of Teodora Vázquez and her fellow inmates in El Salvador. It is a project that follows some of the fundamental values of documentary filmmaking: giving voice to the underrepresented, discussing the human condition and producing new perspectives and realities. As a producer it is a privilege for me to be part of this project. In the first place, for having the opportunity to create a space for discussion of urgent issues such as abortion and gender violence among a public that goes beyond El Salvador and Sweden. Second, for being included in a feminist project that discusses gender norms and gives voice to women who have literally been deprived of their freedom and uprooted from their contexts and life projects. I have total confidence in the director’s artistic and political sensibility.