Who is Lucia? We don’t really know. We know she works at a summer camp, we know she can do a pretty good fake Southern accent, and we know she had a long drive to get where she’s going. We know she wants an abortion, but we don’t know why. We see her touch arms briefly with the woman next to her in the waiting room. We see—and feel—her exasperation as she’s told she must wait twenty-four hours and undergo an ultrasound before her procedure.
We see her go to a bar and drink a beer, and our first reaction is horror—before we remember that it doesn’t matter. We see her race out without paying, and we grow frustrated with her.
Speaking with filmmaker Anu Valia, I quickly realized that this frustration with Lucia was deliberate. We are not supposed to like her. The film does not apologize for its content, or for its character or its portrayal of her. Its content is completely medically accurate and aligned with actual patient experiences, because the script was meticulously checked by Planned Parenthood’s arts and entertainment department. It illustrates a blunt truth: no matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, no matter how much people like or dislike you, you still deserve control over your body.
I had a chance to meet the amazing filmmaker, Anu Valia, along with Summit and Wasatch County Teen Council member Teia Swan (right). Congratulations to Lucia: Before and After for winning the Short Film Jury Award: U.S Fiction!
