Guneet Monga makes India proud, her co-production Period End of Sentence Wins Best Documentary Short at the Oscars!
Guneet Monga’s Sikhya entertainment co-production titled Period – End of Sentence based on the topic of the deep stigma associated with menstruation and delving upon the work of real-life Pad Man Arunachalam Muruganantham has won itself the Oscar for Best Documentary Short at the 91st Academy Awards. Guneet Monga has executive produced and her production firm Sikhya has co-produced the short.
Here’s her reaction statement as follows: “Thank you to the Academy for the highest honour and for recognising the efforts of the young girls from Oakwood School in LA to Kathikera in UP in helping us shatter the glass ceiling. Periods are normal and in no way do they stop us from achieving anything. This has been more than 10 years of work of Action India run by Gauri Chaudhary on educating reproductive rights on the ground in many villages. Feminist Majority Movement and Girls learn International have been pushing this cause in US”
“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”
“I am honoured and absolutely humbled to partner with Melissa and Rayka in making our short documentary happen. Mandakini Kakar from Sikhya was on the floor working with the film and is the voice of the film too. And thank you Stacey Sher and Lisa Taback for supporting this massive dream. And thank you NETFLIX truly putting us on the MAP!”
“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.”
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.
The 26-minute film follows girls and women in Hapur in northern India and their experience with the installation of a pad machine in their village.
