In 2014, a young woman in Tucumán went to an emergency room seeking treatment for intense vaginal bleeding. She began having contractions, with studies confirming she was in the midst of a 20-week pregnancy she was unaware of. The woman, who came to be known as Belén (her real name was never made public), would eventually suffer a miscarriage. 

Given that abortion in Argentina was illegal at the time, she was reported to the police and charged with first-degree murder. She would spend years in jail immersed in a struggle to prove her innocence. 

This story is now the subject of Belén, a film directed by actress Dolores Fonzi and produced by Amazon MGM Studios and K&S Films, the company that made Netflix’s hit The Eternaut. Belén will premiere in the official competition of the 73rd San Sebastián Film Festival, set to run between September 19 and 27. The film will open in Argentine theaters on September 18 and will later move on to Prime Video for streaming in 240 countries.

Belén’s case became a banner for the pro-choice and feminist movements that fought for women’s rights and against gender violence. In 2017, the Tucumán Supreme Court finally absolved the 27-year-old woman, who spent two years in pre-trial detention and had received the support of dozens of human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and the UN’s Human Rights Committee. 

By then, the case had already become a part of Argentina’s long-standing campaign to legalize abortion, a bill Congress finally passed in 2020. 

The film, based on Ana Correa’s book Somos Belén, is Fonzi’s second film. It follows the story of Julieta (Camila Plaate), a young woman accused of committing an illegal abortion, and Soledad Deza (played by Fonzi), a Catholic lawyer who takes on great personal risks to lead the case. 

Produced by Leticia Cristi and Matías Mosteirin from K&S, and Diego Copello as executive producer, the film was written by Fonzi together with actress and playwright Laura Paredes, who had co-written Fonzi’s first film, Blondi, and also stars in the film. 

Belén is the latest addition to Prime Video’s roster of Argentine original films, following the success of the Golden Globe-winning Argentina, 1985, directed by Santiago Mitre.

-With information from Ámbito