Basta

We act as if it's easy to learn to fly, but what if your wings are wrapped in uncertainty or your foot is tangled in the past, how do you launch then? As a first-generation college student, assault survivor, and aspiring environmental attorney, Leona grapples with self sabotage while trying to navigate the unfamiliar territory of social mobility. When her step-father gets deported and her mother sinks into depression she feels helpless as she comes face to face with her worst nightmare. With a sense of urgency and the energy of her family's skeleton swallow key, Leona's ancestors beckon her awakening. Lucas’ story unfolds simultaneously as he moves fast and breaks things. Feeling lonely and undervalued, he taps into hyper masculinity and the empty promise of domination. As a man who feels that he’s been given a rough deal, he allows his hostility to pour into every area of his life. Set in skid-row adjacent Los Angeles in 2016, Leona and Lucas' lives are interwoven in a way that none of us want to acknowledge but all of us know to be true. Over the course of a day Leona must decide how to deal with the cold harsh reality of what it means to be a woman in America today. Basta is told alongside non-fiction excerpts of violence against women and their timeless struggle to be heard, seen, and valued in a society that ceases to do so.