Period. End Of Sentence Wins Best Documentary Short Subject In Oscar 2019
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Today, Period. End Of Sentence, a film about menstrual challenges faced by Indian woman in the northern part of the country, bagged an Oscar in Documentary Short Subject category at the 91st Academy Awards ceremony. The 26-minutes movie looks upon his life’s works of the real Padman Arunachalam Muruganathan and the struggle of women dealing with menstrual taboos and stigma in India.


“A film on menstruation won an Oscar”

The movie follows girls in Hapur in Uttar Pradesh and their struggle of installing a pad machine in their village. The movie has been directed by Iranian-American filmmaker Rayka Zehtabchi and the film has been created by The Pad Project, a group of students at the Oakwood School in Los Angeles and their teacher, Melissa Berton, reported The News Minute.

The movie has been produced by Indian producer Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment. Earlier, they have backed movies like The Lunchbox and Masan. A Netflix documentary, the producer even got a shoutout from the team on stage. “Guneet Monga – know that you have been empowering women all over the world fight for menstrual equality,” Zehtabchi said.

Sharing her happiness, Guneet Monga tweeted “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.”



While accepting the award, the filmmaker further said, “I’m not crying because I’m on my period or anything. I can’t believe a film on menstruation won an Oscar.” Mellisa Burton dedicated her Oscar to her students and said, “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.”


The Logical Indian take

From the dawn of history period blood has been regarded with sanctimonious horror and a natural proof of woman’s inferiority. While Aristotle regarded the menstrual blood as “elixir of life” because it fused with a male sperm to produce babies, Leviticus in the Old Testament opined that a woman should be isolated for seven days and reinstated into society on the 8th day.

A 2016 study by the TATA Institute of Social Science (TISS) found that eight of ten Indian girls are not allowed to enter religious shrines when they are on their period, six of ten girls are not permitted to touch food in the kitchen and, three of ten are forced to sleep in a separate room.

Menstruation has been termed impure and women are heavily discriminated against when they are on their period. Many girls stop going to school when they start menstruating. Due to the lack of proper infrastructure in most government and government-aided schools, girls don’t go to school during the five days of period because of the lack of proper toilet facilities.

Many progressive minds are working to remove the taboos surrounding menstruation and we as citizens need to take an active part in the process. The Logical Indian appreciates the movie for engaging themselves in this important conversation.


Also Read: This Duo Is Breaking The Stigma Around Menstruation Among Women & Girls Experiencing Poverty

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Editor : The Logical Indian

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