Pro-Ana

A Short Film

written by Shawn Kathryn Kane, directed by Ward Roberts

 

          A young woman's journey of recovery and escape from the
cult of "pro-ana."

 

One in five women and more than 10 million men in the US struggle with body dysmorphia and disordered eating.  If not you...

 

Someone you know is suffering.

 

Pro-Ana, the film is a young woman's journey of recovery and escape from the cult of pro-ana, whose adherents deify body dysmorphia and live by a strict doctrine of disordered eating.

 

For her, recovery means losing everyone in order to rediscover herself. 
 

Synopsis:

 

Dylan meets with a pro-ana support group daily. The group shares tips, encouragement, acceptance, and - when necessary - discipline. But Dylan has begun to think she can turn their tips into a lifestyle that supports eating.

 

When Maggie, her counselor, detects Dylan’s distance, the group, together with Dylan’s live-in boyfriend Shannon, takes action to get Dylan back on the path to salvation through starvation. 

 

“Pro-ana,” “pro-mia” and “pro-thin” are innocuous-sounding names given to a real and growing online subculture of body dysmorphics seeking to become “better” disordered eaters - better addicts. This lifestyle is guided by standardized rules, iconography and mantras like the Ana Creed: 

 

I believe in Control...

I believe in perfection and strive to attain it.

I believe in salvation through starvation.

I believe in hell, because I sometimes think that I'm living in it.

 

- The "Ana Creed," excerpted in part

 

Pro-Ana, the film was largely inspired by #ThePowerWithin social media campaign, a forum for body dysmorphics and disordered eaters in recovery. The film aims to shine a light on the growing and pervasive pro-ana subculture through a story of strength and self-reclamation.