With the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade, the criminalization of abortion is a major topic of contention in the U.S., and all over the world, where people have long been fighting for reproductive rights—and oftentimes, their lives. Celina Escher’s educational documentary Fly So Far emphasizes the far-reaching effects that outlawing abortion has had in El Salvador. At the heart of the documentary is Teodora del Carmen Vasquez: a young woman sentenced to 30 years in a women’s prison due to El Salvador’s strict abortion laws.
Vasquez didn’t have an abortion, however, but a miscarriage–as did 16 of her inmates, all imprisoned on the charge of homicide following accusations of abortion. In prison, the women become known as “The Seventeen,” as they advocate for fellow victims of the systemic oppression of women in El Salvador. Several of their stories play out for us in animated sequences, starkly capturing grief-stricken narratives in shadowy sketches.
One highlights Vasquez’s miscarriage–her experience of such pain at nine months of pregnancy that she called the police five times. When they never arrived to help her, she passed out, only to wake to officers arresting her and accusing her of killing her stillborn child. “El Salvador is becoming the owner of women.” Vasquez comes to this realization behind bars. “With these laws, they want to rule over us.”
Fly So Far is women's call for systemic change—and not only in El Salvador. As Celina Escher states in an interview with Women and Hollywood: “This could happen to any woman in the world.” More than an indictment of the criminalization of abortion, the educational documentary is intersectional in its approach to several themes: reproductive rights, the constraints of patriarchy, discrimination against people in poverty, and the resilience and unification of women.
Apart from a too-extended stay after its pointed and emotional climax, the majority of the educational documentary is necessary to paint a compelling and detailed portrait of patriarchal oppression in El Salvador. Highly recommended.
What kind of film collection would this title be suitable for?
Fly So Far would be an excellent addition to collections of documentary films by women directors, as well as films about abortion laws and reproductive rights.
What public library shelves would this title be on?
Celina Escher’s film belongs on educational documentary shelves centering on social issues, political issues, world cinema, women’s rights, and Spanish-language films.
What can this educational documentary be used as a resource for?
Fly So Far can be used as a resource for documentary filmmaking classes, as well as any classes or library programs about women’s rights activism and reproductive rights legislation.