two and a half hours

Mathew Paul

A woman is murdered in Mexico every two and a half hours, about 30% of these crimes are investigated as femicides. The World Health Organization generally defines femicide as “intentional murder of women because they are women.” While femicides represented about 10 percent of all murders in 2019, the rate has increased 145% since 2015 (this number is also incomplete as several states in Mexico do not separately count femicides).

Two and a Half Hours is an episodic documentary project exploring the grim reality of femicide in Mexico. The first episode first pulls the viewer into the story of María José Medina Flores, a 19 year old girl who was murdered after leaving a bar with a mysterious man in 2017. The police failed to properly investigate her case, and closed it with no leads. 4 years later, Vanessa Rodríguez a feminist activist and advocate for victims and their families, picked up the case. She was able to get the case reopened as a femicide. 

In this episode, Vanessa shares her story as a feminist and her work advocating for victims when the government fails. Vanessa and the narrator define femicide, and share shocking statistics about impunity in Mexico. The last act explores Vanessa's own journey as a feminist, and where she sees the movement going in the future.