Los Angeles: A film on menstruation, set in rural India, titled Period. End of Sentence, has won the Oscar in the Documentary Short Subject category at the 91st Academy Awards.
Award-winning filmmaker Rayka Zehtabchi has directed the short film, which has been produced by Indian producer Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment. The film came to into being as a part of The Pad Project, started by students at the Oakwood School in Los Angeles and their teacher, Melissa Berton.
‘‘I’m not crying because I’m on my period or anything. I can’t believe a film on menstruation won an Oscar,’’ Zehtabchi said in her acceptance speech. The documentary feature is set in Hapur village outside Delhi, where women lead a quiet revolution as they fight against the deeply rooted stigma of menstruation.
For generations, these women did not have access to sanitary pads, which lead to health issues and girls dropping out from schools. When a sanitary pad vending machine is installed in the village, the women learn to manufacture and market their own pads, empowering their community. They named their brand FLY.
Monga, ecstatic about the win which comes a decade since A.R. Rahman registered a twin win at Oscars, said: “Every girl in India or anywhere around the world needs to know this and hear this loud and clear.”Period is an end of a sentence but not a girl’s education. “Here is to more girl power… I really want every girl to know that each one of them is a Goddess. Now, that we have an Oscar, let’s go change the world.”
Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment has backed films like “The Lunchbox” and “Masaan”. The Indian producer even got a huge shout out from the team while accepting the award. “Guneet Monga — know that you have been empowering women all over the world fight for menstrual equality,” Zehtabchi said, in a special moment for India at the Oscars.
