by Sarah Cook
Ana Pio.
That’s a name you should look out for. Ana Pio. Director extraordinaire. The successful filmmaker is a celebrated and award-winning filmmaker. In 2014, having studied for her master’s at the Met Film School in London, her short film Eden won the Women in Film Achievement Award at the New Renaissance Film Festival.
Since, Pio has gone on from strength to strength including her important documentary short Ode (which we covered here) and the darkly comic PMS, which had its debut at the London Short Film Festival earlier this year.
Now Pio is tackling an important subject with her latest film 7 to 10.
7 to 10 is a short dram that sees a young woman cope with a sexual assault. After she is attacked at a Halloween Party, years later, our protagonist still struggles to cope with the trauma but finds strengths in many coping mechanisms and her good friends.
The short film was written by Pio and was based on lead actress Angelika May’s own story. Through writing the script, May hoped that sharing it with the world would help shift some of her stigma and suffering. The predominantly female-led crew aim to raise awareness and plan to work with different organisations to give people, and victims, tools and resources – whatever helping hands that they might need.
This sensitive approach to the subject is truly tremendous. Speaking of the importance of the film, director Pio says; “We want to empower survivors to heal whichever way they feel inside, by demystifying what is designated by toxic media an “imperfect victim”. The film is important because we’re changing the narrative in support of survivors and that starts with media.”
As she approached the film, Ana Pio explains that she tried to steer clear from the manipulative nature many films have when tackling this subject. “I’ve always been very passionate about exploring sexual assault on screen as I grew up with imagery that was very exploitative of the victim and wanted to change that. When Angelika brought the project to me, I finally felt ready and mature enough as a filmmaker to delve into the subject.”
7 to 10 has already completed filming, so you don’t have to worry about the film never being made. However, Pio and her crew need help in getting the film over the line. If you contribute to this important film, you will receive posters, signed scripts and more. Not only that but you would help this vital film and its incredible crew.
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