Medusa

21-year-old Mariana belongs to a world where she must keep up the appearance of a perfect woman. To resist temptation, she and her girlfriends try to control everything and everyone around them, and that includes the town sinners. At night, the girl gang put on masks and hunt down and beat up all women who have deviated from the ‘right’ path. However, the day will come when the urge to scream will be stronger than it ever has been. ‘Medusa is wild, glamorous, and marked with a dark, slick fury.’ (Alliance of Women Film Journalists)

‘When I read the news about young women gathering to attack a fellow woman, I instantly thought of Medusa. Medusa is described as a beautiful maiden, a priestess of the temple of Athena. But one day she gave in to Poseidon’s advances, angering Athena, the virgin goddess, who transformed Medusa’s beautiful hair into snakes, and left her face so horrendous that those merely gazing into it would be turned to stone. Medusa was punished for her sexuality, for desiring, for not being ‘pure’. By combining myth and reality, it occurred to me that, even with the passing of the centuries, women wanting to control each other became part of the very foundation of this civilization.’

Anita Rocha da Silveira, Director