In an almost chilling and unnerving serendipitous coincidence, Frimas the new short film by award-winning writer, director, actress an activist Marianne Farley was released for festival audiences, right at the time politicians in Texas passed a bill banning abortions past 6 weeks.
Set in Montreal, Canada in the near future, Cara (Karine Gonthier-Hyndman) is a woman who has no choice but to make the extremely dangerous and heartbreaking choice of having an illegal abortion, after the medical procedure has been re-criminalized in the country. In the back of a meat truck, Cara’s life forever changes as she comes face-to-face with the stark and grim reality of just how dangerous the abortion ban is. Surrounded by the hanging carcasses of pigs, she’s left no choice but to put her trust in Dr. Hubert (Chantal Baril) a complete stranger, whose own fear of being caught and arrested causes friction during their interactions.
Though set in Canada, the situation in Frimas is one that too many women around the world are placed in daily as abortion is either still illegal, or allowed under very specific circumstances deemed appropriate by politicians who know nothing about the women’s whose lives they want to control. In our discussion, Marianne and I spoke about the ways society continues to place pressure on women to conform to conservative and cruel ideals, the struggle for bodily autonomy, and women’s reproductive rights all around the world.
Frimas was executive produced by Uzo Aduba and Dan Denicola, and produced by Charlotte Beaudoin-Poisson et Sophie Ricard-Harvey.
To learn more about the film, and Marianne’s work visit MarianneFarley.com