Arresting Ana is a 26-minute documentary about what some French women are choosing not to do – choosing not to feed their bodies – and how they could soon become criminals in the eyes of French law for it.
Valerie Boyer is a passionate legislator on a mission to restore the health, eating habits and body images of the French. According to Boyer, the uncanny power of French women to stay svelte in the country of foie gras, wine and cheese has fallen victim to globalization and has led to a skyrocketing rise in not only obesity, but in eating disorders too.
Boyer’s remedy: a pioneering law that renders promoting eating disorders illegal by punishing or fining magazines, blogs and websites that present extreme thinness as a beauty trait. Boyer’s law, which still faces a vote in the Senate, is the strongest of its kind anywhere and particularly resonates in France, the country of haute couture, of gastronomy, and of the birthplace of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.