Sassy Mohen’s short film “How to Hack Birth Control” is a comedy with a serious intent to teach woman about birth control. The film, part of New Filmmakers Los Angeles‘ InFocus: Female Cinema festival, came about when a friend told Mohen about getting an abortion.
“I had a friend who had to have an abortion because she didn’t know the birth control that she could have access to,” Mohen tells NFMLA’s Danny DeLillo in a Q&A. “Because she didn’t have a job, she was really struggling, ended up getting pregnant, and had to have an abortion, and told me about it afterwards.
“And I told her, if you just go to Planned Parenthood and show proof of income, you get it for free… I just still distinctly remember her face, because of everything she’d just gone through that could have been easily alleviated if she’d known this information. And I started thinking about how much other people won’t know, and also, when I was younger, what I didn’t know.”
Watch the NFMLA interview with Sassy Mohen, writer and director of “How to Hack Birth Control”:
Mohen hit on a format for her film that she describes as “if Samantha Bee and SNL made a baby that watched a lot of TikTok.”
“How to Hack Birth Control” enlists the sharp wit and perky charm of the narrator, Ruth, to tell you everything that sex-ed never did.
Mohen recently shot several promotions for the new Disney Studio film Disenchanted and is currently in development for her next feature film drama surrounding the impact of the recent overturning of Roe V. Wade on three college students in Texas, along with other film projects. She has directed, written, produced, and edited multiple award-winning films, TV pilots, music videos, commercials, specs, and web series.
You can follow her on Twitter at @sassymohen and Instagram at @sassymohen, and visit her website, SassyMohen.com.
“How to Hack Birth Control” was part of NFMLA’s March film festival celebrating up-and-coming female talent in front of and behind the camera. The program included two shorts programs, along with award-winning filmmaker Dawn Jones Redstone’s debut feature.
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The day began with InFocus: Female Cinema Shorts I, a collection of films that explore motherhood, fertility, birth, and reproductive choice from a wide range of perspectives. The programming continued with the Los Angeles premiere of “Mother of Color,” the first feature from award-winning writer-director Dawn Jones Redstone. The night concluded with InFocus: Female Cinema Shorts II, an eclectic mix of short form work from emerging talent, whose stories explored body image, intimate relationships, work and its many struggles.
NFMLA showcases films by filmmakers of all backgrounds throughout the year in addition to its special InFocus programming, which celebrates diversity, inclusion, and region. All filmmakers are welcome and encouraged to submit their projects which will be considered for all upcoming NFMLA Festivals, regardless of the InFocus programming.
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