Starving Pig

Twenty-four-year-old Maca has spent her entire life being watched, weighed, and judged. Every bite she takes is counted by her father, every gesture examined by her mother, and every memory haunted by the sharp cruelty of her grandmother whose voice still echoes in her head, calling her a “starving pig.” Maca hides her binge-eating behind closed doors, secretly documenting every bite, every calorie, every attempt to outrun the shame that has followed her since childhood. Her family ignores the roots of her pain, choosing silence over understanding, just as generations before them did. When Maca’s grandmother dies, the event cracks something open inside her. The memories she has tried to bury resurface vividly: the silk tablecloths, the holiday feasts, the humiliating comments, the piercing gaze of a woman who once valued beauty above love. The past and present begin to merge. As Maca spirals deeper into her disorder, she finds herself seeing her grandmother’s reflection over her

Director’s statement
The Starving Pig is an intimate story that explores the inner world of a young girl, Mace, shaped by long-term pressure, shame, and a legacy of family cruelty. The film is felt more than spoken, using symbols and visual storytelling, with minimal dialogue and animation as the main emotional language.

Its visual world is split in two: warm tones on white represent the present, while dark, near-monochrome scenes on ochre paper depict memories. A blend of realism and abstraction expresses shame, guilt, and inner conflict through body and space transformation.

Animation allows the merging of external reality and Mace’s inner life. While addressing eating disorders and body rejection, the film reveals deeper family tensions, silence, and inherited trauma. Rooted in personal experience, it seeks to provoke discomfort, empathy, and reflection, using subtle humor and expressive sound to deepen its emotional impact.