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Ana Cristina Benítez is a documentary filmmaker who opens a window into her personal journey with breast cancer to spark honest and often difficult conversations. Through MAMA, she questions a healthcare system that prioritizes curing the body while overlooking the emotional and psychological dimensions of illness. Her film invites audiences to reflect on how we care for one another, especially in moments of vulnerability, and aims to create space for dialogue, recognition, and collective healing.
Help us start the difficult conversations that too often go unspoken. MAMA opens a space to reflect on how we care for breast cancer patients—not just medically, but emotionally and socially. Let’s use this film to challenge the silence, share experiences, and imagine a more compassionate way forward for all those women affected by cancer.
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Visit the Cookie Policy pageWhen Ana Cristina Benítez first picked up the camera, she wasn’t thinking about making a film. She was simply trying to feel less alone. Diagnosed with breast cancer just as the pandemic hit Ecuador, Ana entered a hospital transformed by isolation and a silent void. Filming became her way of surviving. The camera was not just a tool, but a companion, an extension of her body. It helped her bear witness to what was happening, not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually.
was born from this urgency—not as a planned project, but as a gesture of resistance. A way of holding onto life, of inhabiting absence, of reclaiming the body in the face of illness.
We’ve come to realize that is not a film meant to be watched alone, or simply streamed and forgotten. Its true power lies in what happens after the screening—in the conversations that emerge, the tears, the silences, and the courage to speak. It opens space for people to talk about things that are often left unspoken: the emotional toll of cancer, the loneliness of treatment, and the deep need for care that goes beyond the medical.
That’s why our impact campaign (see Achieved Impact section for details) aims to reach audiences beyond traditional venues—those who need these conversations most. Using as a catalyst, we facilitate difficult dialogues through creative workshops and tools that foster vulnerability and connection. These conversations are equally necessary within disability communities, where experiences of illness and care are often overlooked. That’s why the film includes inclusive subtitles, making sure it is accessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences. Central to our approach is promoting filmmaking and other artistic practices as vital forms of healing and expression, while building supportive networks among patients, caregivers, and health professionals.
But we can’t do this alone.
Your support helps us organize screenings, find and engage audiences, and develop creative tools to spark difficult conversations, working alongside mental health professionals, artists, and organizations.
Let’s use this film to open hard conversations. Let’s create space for care, listening, and imagining a more compassionate approach to illness—one that honors not just survival, but the full humanity of those who endure.
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