Synopsis
At 36, director Ana Cristina Benítez is confronted with a disquieting late-stage breast cancer diagnosis—one that upends her life and reshapes her sense of self. Together with her family and partner, she embarks on a raw, unfiltered healing journey that goes beyond the repair of her body to gently tend to the soul. Told with poetic precision, this unflinching first-person narrative is interwoven with archival footage shot on a camera her father sent home after emigrating to the United States, asking the family to film themselves so he could glimpse their lives from afar. A celebration of vulnerability and resilience, MAMA explores what it means to reconnect—with oneself, with one’s ancestors, and with the past—in the midst of life-altering transformation.
Director: Ana Cristina Benítez
Creative Producer: Bernarda Cornejo Pinto
General Producer: Ana Cristina Benítez
Country of origin: Ecuador
Genre: Creative Documentary
Duration: 95 min
Premiere: Hot Docs 2025, Canadá
Language: Spanish
Subtitles: Spanish CC / English / French
Distribution and sales: Utopia Docs
A very personal lens on the procedures that Benitez and women like her face while experiencing breast cancer.
A reaffirming portrait of healing… MAMA is a hymn to life.
A labour of love… an unflinching look
A poetic diary of how film eases life’s pains.
Emotional, vulnerable, and deeply personal.
A healing journey with delicate sensitivity.
Meet the team
Ana Cristina Benítez
Director
Bernarda Cornejo
Creative Producer
With the support of
Work in Progress
Associate Producers
Sales Agent
