Winning the Oscar for Best Documentary Short for the makers of India-based documentary Period is the most difficult task.
It handles the disgrace of the feminine cycle in the nation, made history at the 91st Academy Awards subsequent to winning in the best documentary short category.
Melissa Berton (centre left) and Rayka Zehtabchi accept the award for best documentary short for Period. It was a hard work of 20 years of struggle said sneha and suman who are featured in the film.
The 26-minute short documentary, co-produced by Indian Producer Guneet Monga, Sikhya Entertainment and directed by 25-year-old Award-winning Film maker Rayka Zehtabchi, follows a group of women in Hapur, India who lead a quiet revolution as they fight against the stigma of menstruation that is deeply rooted in society.
The film was nominated along with Black Sheep, End Game, Lifeboat and A Night At The Garden in the category.
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.
Dedicating the award to her school, Berton said the project was born because her students in LA and people in India wanted to make a human rights difference.
I share this award with the Feminist Majority Foundation, the entire team and cast. I share this with the teachers and students around the worlds – a period should end a sentence, not a girl’s education, she said.
“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,” Monga tweeted after the win.