This Documentary Shot In India Based On Periods Just Won An Oscar!

After a wave of enlightenment that hit India during the release of Akshay Kumar starrer Padman, you would think that by now the stigma associated with periods, the bad hygiene practices around menstruation, the giggles and sheer lack of knowledge about this-time-of-the-month would have subsided by a large degree. But no. The stigmas exist, the hygiene problems are prevalent and there are a huge number of places in our country where women don’t know what a sanitary pad looks like! Yes, they have never seen it, used it or heard about it. 'Period. End of Sentence.' has started the talk about menstruation once again and the voices of ladies living in places as far as Hapur in India’s Uttar Pradesh to Oakwood in Los Angeles, USA are behind it. No wonder then that their efforts bore fruit and Oscars recognised it as the Best Documentary Short at the 2019 Academy Awards.

What Is It About?

'Period. End of Sentence.'shows the woman of a village in Hapur on the outskirts of Delhi and how their lives are still mired in the taboo of periods. The girls and boys shyly smile when the word menstruation is mentioned while the elders look nonplussed when a sanitary pad making machine invented by the real Padman himself , Mr Arunachalam Muruganantham is set up in the village. The documentary is not just about raising awareness but instilling a sense of freedom in the women who now have an identity of a paid worker as they start churning out pad after pad using a simple, cost-effective process and also set out to sell it to households and shops, a task which may not go down well with the men folk. The protagonist of the documentary is Sneha, a girl who is aspiring to be a Police Officer and starts working in the pad making unit to fund her training. Although from a small village, Sneha has big dreams and does not believe in the illogical practices associated with menstruation. The documentary also talks about how menstruation affects the education of girls as they stop going to school after they hit puberty. The documentary drives home the fact that a period should only end a sentence and not a girl’s education. After the surprise win of the documentary, since not many male members of the Academy jury were keen on voting for it (because the subject of periods was too icky for them!), Sneha’s family and friends had a joyous moment. Have a look:

Hapur: Family of Sneha, one of the women appearing in Period. End of Sentence. which won #Oscars for Best Documentary Short Subject celebrate in Kathikhera village. It's based on a group of women, including her, which led a revolution here against taboo surrounding menstruation pic.twitter.com/88Aaujjksy

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 25, 2019

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Voices Behind Period. End Of Sentence.

The executive producer of the 25-minute documentary, Guneet Monga can be credited with a host of new-age movies such as Masaan, The Lunchbox, Shahid, Shaitaan and Gangs of Wasseypur that are changing the definition of Bollywood. It all began when a group of students in Oakwood High School and their teacher Melissa Barton raised money to donate a pad making machine. When the time came to document the same, award-winning Iranian-American director Rayka Zehtabchi stepped in and her poignant expression of the subject will totally touch your heart. In her Oscar acceptance speech Rayka said: “I’m not crying because I’m on my period, or anything. “I can’t believe a film about menstruation just won an Oscar.”

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Started with a small dream in the English department room of @melissa_berton with her school girls of @oakwoodstories for empowering and educating other young girls across the world for better menstruation hygiene. This started 7 years ago with raising money and donating one pad machine... then thought the team should make a movie for better awareness!! @actionindia76 from India helped on ground in putting a machine. @raykaz and @samdavisdp captured all of this so beautifully with @kakarmandakini producing for @sikhya ❤️ . . Today here we are ! All the way to Oscars and have put this story on the map ! One night before the Oscars, whatever may happen.... Team @periodendofsentence is already a winner ! . . more power for all the support and magic @stacey_sher @lisataback . . . This is dedicated to dreamers like each one of you here. Keep inspiring ❤️ @helenyenser @mcmaxam @clairesliney @charlottesilverman @ruby_schiff @aveeybaaby @sophdasch @maggiesophiebrown

A post shared by Guneet Monga (@guneetmonga) onFeb 23, 2019 at 9:44pm PST

With the Oscars recognising stories like these, hope more voices will be raised and more awareness spread to every nook and corner of our country where reportedly 10 % women use sanitary pads. At Her Zindagi, we are proud of such efforts and hope to see more in the same direction while being a part of such change.

Want to bust your notions about periods or know everything about feminine hygiene? Then keep reading Her Zindagi.