In 2014, a young woman went to the hospital in Argentina for a miscarriage. There, she was arrested by the police, who wrongly accused her of having had recourse to a clandestine abortion. She was then placed in preventive detention for more than two years, then imprisoned for homicide.
Lawyer Soledad Deza took up the case and allowed Belén – a pseudonym aimed at preserving the anonymity of the young woman – to be released in 2017. While the movement Ni una menos (“Not one less”) protest against violence against women, including feminicide, was gaining momentum in Latin America, the strong media coverage of this legal case contributed to massive popular mobilization in Argentina and the legalization of abortion in the country, at the very end of 2020.
It is the story of this pivotal moment in Argentina that Dolores Fonzi wanted to tell for her second feature film. Both screenwriter, director and producer of Belenwhich has been visible since November 14 on Prime Video, she also plays the role of lawyer Soledad Deza. Supported by an exemplary ensemble cast, notably by a breathtaking Camila Pláate in the role of Belén, Dolores Fonzi delivers a powerful and frenzied film, which keeps the viewer in suspense without ever forgetting the seriousness of its subject.
Beyond a specific case, “a film about the women’s movement”
Dolores Fonzi, a filmmaker who also defines herself as an activist, has always been committed to defending women’s rights. In 2015, while the movement’s demonstrations Ni una menos were held in Argentina, she helped mobilize 500 actresses to campaign for the legalization of abortion. A year later, during an awards ceremony to which she was invited, she also took advantage of her visibility to hold up a sign “Freedom for Belén”.
“I have always tried to get involved in causes that seemed important to meindicates the Argentinian filmmaker. When I was pregnant with my second child, I was making videos to promote the pro-abortion law. When I heard the story of this young woman wrongly imprisoned and was invited to this event, I knew what I had to do.” Without knowing that a decade later, his film on the story of Belén would be selected to represent Argentina at the Oscars in 2026.
This court case was a pivotal moment in the fight for the legalization of abortion in Argentina and more generally, for women’s rights in Latin America. “Before that, each country had a different colored scarf to symbolize the feminist struggletraces the director of Belen. In Colombia it was orange, in Argentina green… In 2018, I was in Mexico to receive another award and we organized a big feminist gathering, during which we agreed that the color would be green, for all of Latin America. Belén was a huge unifying movement, which put all feminist causes on the table.”
The film, which adopts the codes of a legal thriller, adopts the lawyer’s point of view. Not to glorify her role, but because the filmmaker wanted to respect the anonymity of the real inmate, whom she knows personally. “She didn’t want the film to portray her in a way that would allow her to be identified.specifies Dolores Fonzi. There are a lot of details that could have been fascinating in the film, but couldn’t be told. And if the story was told from his point of view, it would have been a prison film. That wasn’t what I wanted to show. I preferred to make a film about the women’s movement.”
A militant and entertaining film
The greatest achievement of Belen is to manage to wrap the heaviness of its subject in perfectly mastered Hollywood conventions. Dolores Fonzi thus puts all the tools of entertainment – an effective rhythm, a good dose of humor and suspense – at the service of an eminently political story. “Addressing these themes with too solemn an air is so boringshe blurted. And the audience will say, “Oh my, she’s trying to educate me, or convince me.” I didn’t want that at all.”
With a mischievous air, the Argentine filmmaker welcomes the slyly entertaining nature of her film and affirms that her objective is rather to“expose, without attacking”. “I definitely don’t want to come out and say, ‘You men are really stupid,’ even if I think so.she teases. The idea is rather to use the right tools to convert people without them realizing it. Men can say it when they are trying to convince, but not us. We act in the shadows.” Today, Dolores Fonzi says she is very touched by the positive reception of the feature film, particularly among a young male audience: “It’s crazy to see teenagers making videos on TikTok telling people to go see my film.”
Even for Dolores Fonzi, the project had a beneficial effect: “I’m very grateful to this film for reminding me of who I was during that time and being able to show that to my daughter.” Beyond the story of Belén, the filmmaker hoped to show that “if we have succeeded in winning this fight once, we can succeed again”. Dejected by the results of the legislative elections of October 26, 2025, won by the party of far-right President Javier Milei, she recalls that “Women’s rights are not safe anywhere”.
In Argentina, abortion continues to be a controversial subject, five years after its legalization. The filmmaker shows us a photo sent by her actress, Camila Pláate, the same day. In front of a maternity ward, a woman sits with a sign “Let us pray against abortion”. “I don’t really think the government can go back on legalizing abortionsays the filmmaker. But if it ever happens, we are ready.
