The documentary, produced by Taller de Comunicación Mujer, Sacha Manchi and Fundación Vivir Libre, under the direction of Lorena Salas, tells the story of four trans women and their stories of resistance and survival.
Last Monday, 3rd August, the Soto del Real prison was the scene of the screening of the Ecuadorian documentary 'State of Exception', which portrays the harsh reality of trans women in Ecuador's prisons during the prison crisis and the internal armed conflict in 2019. Since then, Ecuador has experienced an unprecedented prison crisis, with declarations of a state of emergency across the entire prison system to address the violence of gangs vying for control of the prisons.
After the screening at Soto del Real prison, the LGTBIQ+ group of the Rejas Rosas project carried out a personal writing exercise.
"The difference is very great in terms of rights, treatment, equality and the state of living"; "we were struck by the psychological and physical abuses from both inmates and officials"; "What we liked most was their initiative, to organise themselves and form a kind of Shelter for trans women"; "Grateful and fortunate for the support to the group within Soto del Real and I hope that in the future the people from the group can continue participating and contributing to the Rejas Rosas group". These are some of the impressions about the documentary that were recorded, leading to a collective dialogue. According to Daniel García, head of the Rejas Rosas project, the activity sparked a "very relevant" interest as several people felt "very reflected" in the stories narrated in the film..
As Daniel García notes, one of the conclusions that was written down was that, despite being deprived of liberty, they feel they have "a privilege" in being in the Spanish prison system.
Last May, the headquarters of the Fundación 26 de Diciembre in Madrid also hosted the screening of the documentary; an experience that transcended the screen to become a lively and enriching debate. A meeting took place where shared reflections and emotions wove a space for collective learning within the framework of the activities of the women's group at the Foundation.
From the Fundación 26 de Diciembre we particularly value this type of activity where cinema becomes a tool not only for visibility but also for critical awareness and comparison of realities, contributing to the fact that people deprived of liberty can put their own situation into perspective and reflect on the differences that still exist regarding the defence of LGTBIQ+ rights in contexts of deprivation of liberty.