Salvadorean premiere in cinemas of Fly So Far (Nuestra Libertad), suspended.

To all filmmakers and artists in El Salvador and the world, national and international journalists, students, collectives, institutions, international organizations, and the international community in general:

The independent production company Pråmfilm, together with the director of the film Fly So Far (Nuestra Libertad), call for solidarity for the right to freedom of expression.

Fly So Far (Nuestra Libertad), a film made by Salvadoran and international filmmakers, tells the stories of Salvadoran women unjustly criminalized for an obstetric emergency. The protagonists of the film have received sentences from 30 to 50 years in prison due to the total criminalization of pregnancy termination in El Salvador. 

Fly So Far (Nuestra Libertad) tells the stories of resilience, sisterhood and the struggle for freedom of women who have been unjustly criminalized. Thanks to the great attention and recognition the film has received internationally, with a run of 50 international film festivals and 18 awards, their stories have become known in many different contexts. Our goal as a production team has been to contribute to the dialogue and reflection on women’s right to decide, not only in El Salvador but everywhere around the world.

In recent months we have collaborated with the cinema to make possible the premiere of our documentary in Salvadoran cinemas. The premiere was supposed to take place on August 18th of this year. Unfortunately, last August 14, the cinema received a letter from groups opposed to the right to decide (Pro-Life), in which they presented legal threats and defamatory arguments against the protagonists of the film to stop its premiere. After analyzing the possible legal consequences of such threats, the cinema determined that the arguments of these groups were not valid. However, in the context of the current State of Exception in El Salvador, there is no legal certainty or constitutional rights that would guarantee that a possible legal process would proceed according to the logic of the law. Because of this, the cinema has decided to suspend the film’s premiere.

With deep indignation we call on the international organizations working for human rights to express their rejection of this violation of the right to freedom of expression. We also call on to stand in solidarity with the protagonists of the film, who have been subjected to a campaign of defamation, mainly through social media.

We call on those who work and produce art in El Salvador and the rest of the world to keep abreast of this case and express their solidarity for the free creation and dissemination of art with #OurFreedomOfExpression. #NuestraLibertaddeExpresion