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[Scream now and I’ll kill you.]

After surviving an assault, Diana decides something must change. She will now take justice into her own hands and change her name to “Dana”, which translates to “the one who judges”.

With Dana, Lucía Forner Segarra offers a violent and brutal film to respond to the violence and brutality of Spanish society, which too easily accepts that men rape women.

An eye for an eye

There are two ways to look at this short film. It can be seen as a metaphor or a fantasy in which one makes oneself feel good by imagining that a victim takes revenge on their attacker. Or, it can be seen as an apology for violence and the valorization of revenge to punish an aggressor.

I believe that the director created this story with a view closer to the first hypothesis. That being said, it might be best not to let anyone with a bit of a weak mind watch it. Because if we take it at first degree, there is a certain danger.

But since we are among intelligent people, we will rather take advantage of the fact that this film is good. Diana, our heroine, decides to roll up her sleeves after her assault in order to rid her town of rapists who have been released despite not being rehabilitated. From a fantasy point of view, this film shows in a wonderful way how an ordinary person can imagine themselves solving problems that justice does not solve. The lead actress (Thais Blume) is excellent going from a wrecked woman on the verge of depression, to a strong woman who takes matters into her own hands.

A response to society

Do we need these kinds of films? Unfortunately, yes. Even today, Western societies are unable to solve the problems of sexual assault. It is also a personal trauma that led the director to make this film.

“The idea of Dana arises from a combination of two traumatic experiences I had. I once suffered an assault with strangulation, from which I was ultimately able to break free. I avoided being raped. But during the struggle to free myself from the attacker, trying desperately to preserve my physical integrity, I felt that if I had the means to do so, I would have killed the attacker. I learned afterwards from the police that the assailant was a repeat offender.”

Lucía Forner Segarra

This is a bit the question posed by the film. How can some rapists be released so easily? It would seem that it is common for rapists who have been sentenced for several decades to be released after having served only ten. The director does not seem to question the possibility of reforming a person. Rather, she questions how authorities judge whether or not a person should be released.

By showing a fairly brutal response to these acts, the director brings up the idea that if the authorities do not take matters into their own hands, it is not impossible that one day things will get out of hands.

A bit more…

Dana is not a film that will go down in history. On the other hand, it will make people react by the graphic violence and the subject of which it treats.

All that remains is to hope that enough people will see it so that the effect can be propelled…

Trailer