Director's Works
Women on Web, safe abortions @home Sophie Lahusen
Sophie Lahusen is a german-french filmmaker whose work blends documentary and fiction in an experimental way. She studied art history in Hamburg and Rome before working as a journalist. In 2020, she moved to Munich to study documentary film at HFF. Deeply engaged in social issues, she volunteers in hospice and prison support. Her storytelling is shaped by personal experiences, a search for emotional truth with a focus on social topics and female realities. Currently, she lives in Mexico City, studying cinematography and working on her satirical docu-fiction “Expat, Baby!”.
This project was born from a simple but urgent realization: most people don’t know that safe abortion at home exists — and that abortion pills can be accessed by mail, even in restrictive contexts.
Around the world, access to abortion is restricted not only by law, but also by stigma, fear, misinformation, and isolation. While safe, self-managed medical abortion is recommended by the WHO and practiced by millions globally, the images we see in media are still dominated by secrecy, danger, and shame. I wanted to challenge that narrative.
This student spec spot was created in collaboration with Women on Web, a non-profit organization that has been providing safe information and access to abortion pills by mail for nearly two decades, especially in countries where safe clinical abortion is unavailable or restricted. Their work proves that access to knowledge can be life-saving.
The film follows three women in Iran, Mexico, and the United States as they go through a self-managed abortion at home. These stories are inspired by real experiences and show different realities shaped by law, culture, family, and circumstance — yet connected by a shared need for care, privacy, and autonomy. Rather than focusing on crisis, the film centers support systems: sisters, friends, partners, and quiet moments of strength.
Visually and emotionally, my intention was to portray abortion not as an act of despair, but as a moment of clarity, agency, and transformation. A process that can be safe, calm, and held — even in restrictive contexts. By creating new images around abortion, I hope to replace fear with understanding and silence with solidarity.
The project was produced as a non-profit student initiative with a cast and crew who worked without pay, united by the belief that access to safe abortion information is a matter of health, dignity, and human rights. This film is not only about abortion — it is about trust, care, and the right to make decisions about one’s own body.
