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The Oscars have not always favored female directors. In 91 years of exposure, only five have already has been nominated for best director, and this year again, the category is composed only of men. This is not quite disastrous, however, if you focus on other categories. Take for example Period. End of sentence., who is nominated for best short documentary and was directed by a woman: Rayka Zehtabchi, a 25-year-old Iranian-American director.
Period. End of sentence., a documentary about rule stigma in rural India, is currently available in streaming on Netflix. The 26-minute film follows a group of women using a new machine to create low-cost sanitary napkins to create financial independence while improving women's hygiene in their village. Now, according to TIME, their skates are used in 40 neighboring villages. The document also provides viewers with an overview of taboo menstruation in these communities, where 23% of girls drop out of school at puberty because of their menstruation.
For Zehtabchi, seeing how stigma was rooted for women was the most important part of the film's making. Zehtabchi tells Charm, "Some of the craziest moments of the shoot are those where we talked to older women – who had spent their entire menstrual life and should have talked to their daughters about menstruation – that breaks your heart because if they are so afraid of what makes them women, I can not imagine what you would be afraid to do or talk about. "
Zehtabchi was contacted to make the documentary by The Pad Project, the incredible organization that for the first time brought this story to light. In 2012, Melissa Burton, a Los Angeles-based teacher, gathered students and staff to travel to Kathikhera, India to set up the pad making machine described in the film. But after their trip, they wanted to do more than just install a machine: they wanted to start a conversation about the stigma of the period in the world. And so, the documentary was born.
Although the film received such recognition, the mission of Zehtabchi and the Pad project remained the same: spread as much awareness as possible on this issue. "After watching the movie, I hope people will understand that the stigma of this period is not just about Indians, but about the United States and other cultures," Zehtabchi said. "I also want viewers to realize that women's empowerment around the world really begins by opening up the debate about menstruation.We can implement feminine hygiene, but we must first and foremost breaking the taboo.A movie for women, it's also for men.They represent 50% of the population and men must have these conversations and defend the film as much as women. "
Zehtabchi said: "Why does it have to be so incredible? Why is it shocking that I'm a filmmaker and I'm making a film about a women's problem, in a country we do not think much, and that the film draws attention? "We could not be more in agreement.
Samantha Leach is a cultural writing badistant at Charm. Follow her on Twitter @_sleach.
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