India-Based Film Wins Oscar Award

Indian-based documentary film titled “Period: End of Sentence”, that tackles the stigma around menstruation in rural India, has won the Best Documentary Short Subject at the 91st Academy Awards. The film has been co-produced by Guneet Monga and directed by 25-year-old Rayka Zehtabchi.

Monga wrote after the Oscar winner on Twitter, “WE WON!!! To every girl on this earth... know that you are a goddess... if heavens are listening... look MA we put @sikhya on the map.”

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 name their brand "FLY".

The film was nominated along with Black Sheep, End Game, Lifeboat and A Night At The Garden.

Directed by award-winning Iranian-American filmmaker Rayka Zehtabchi, the film is created by The Pad Project, an organisation established by an inspired group of 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.