Experiencing Interruptions?

Sanctity

The near future. Roe v. Wade has been overturned. Abortion is illegal in America. DANIEL McCAFFREY, a U.S. Reproductive Services Administration agent, spends his days busting shadow clinics and street dealers that peddle the abortion drug M. When Daniel’s ex-girlfriend MARINA RUIZ re-enters his life, pregnant and desperate for his help, he is forced to question the system he vigilantly upholds—and make an impossible decision between his beliefs and helping the woman he still loves.

  • Eric Adrian Marshall
    Director
  • Eric Adrian Marshall
    Writer
  • Sahand Nikoukar
    Producer
  • Bernardo Duran, Jr.
    Producer
  • Scott Speiser
    Key Cast
  • Shawn Kathryn Kane
    Key Cast
  • Kate Duffy
    Key Cast
  • Clayton Hoff
    Key Cast
  • Leonora Anzaldua
    Cinematographer
  • Lauren Meyer
    Production Designer
  • Alexis Marsh
    Original Music
  • Sam Jones
    Original Music
  • Brian Paison
    Editor
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Drama, Suspense, Thriller, Sci-Fi
  • Runtime:
    17 minutes 4 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 1, 2016
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes
Director Biography - Eric Adrian Marshall

Eric Adrian Marshall is a director, producer, and designer based in Los Angeles. Before SANCTITY, Eric most recently produced THE MAGIC SHOES, an official selection of TIFF Kids, Starz Denver, and other major festivals. His directing credits include THE WEEKLY, which premiered at the Newport Beach Film Festival, and THE COST OF DYING, which won a Silver CLIO, was exhibited at MOMA in New York City, and shortlisted for Association of Independent Commercial Producers honors.

As a narrative designer and world builder, he currently collaborates with production designer Alex McDowell (MINORITY REPORT, MAN OF STEEL) at 5D Global Studio, using storytelling to help explore solutions to real world problems. He has taught film studies at the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies and guest lectured at Texas Christian University.

A California native, Eric grew up in San Diego and earned a B.S. from UC Berkeley in Environmental Economics and Policy and an M.F.A. in Film Production from the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

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Director Statement

SANCTITY is work of a speculative fiction that seeks to provoke conversations about civil liberties, the value and dignity of human lives, and our ability to control our own bodies. While the work explores morality, devotion, and memory, the dominant theme is the struggle for freedom—of mind and body—in a world of tyranny.

Though the film is set in a probable future, it is inspired by a past reality. The film owes a huge debt to Dorothy Fadiman’s 1992 documentary When Abortion Was Illegal: Untold Stories­. Fadiman’s interviews rendered the terror of the back alleys and botched procedures in sharp relief, and left me wondering: how could anybody want to return to that world? Do those who were alive during that time—including our Supreme Court Justices and many members of Congress—have such short memories? Or are they simply responding to a political reality that favors passion over reason?

Perhaps it is simply our nation’s destiny to repeat our history so that every generation may, firsthand, struggle with the blessings and pitfalls of liberty.
As we have been here before, there was little guesswork needed to understand how a world without Roe v. Wade would work. Women, couples, daughters and fathers, sons and girlfriends, will still seek abortions. Pills will sold underground like heroin, inescapably tied to violence and contamination. Those seeking abortions will be injured, assaulted, raped and exploited with no legal recourse or protection. More secrets will kept between loved ones, more lies will be told. A security apparatus that has become increasingly militarized in recent years will expand surveillance and dream up more reasons to interfere in our private lives.

Those with the money and power and connections to obtain a safe abortion will do so. The poor, the disenfranchised, and the young will, as is so often the case, bear the burden of our myopia.

It is my hope that SANCTITY illuminates the human cost of one path we could follow. But it is not the right path, and it is not the only path. We still have a choice.