''Period. End of Sentence.'' is a 2018 documentary short film directed by

Rayka Zehtabchi Raka Zehtabchi is an Iranian-American filmmaker best known for her 2018 Academy Award-winning documentary short '' Period. End of Sentence'', which addresses the topic of period poverty. Her previous film, ''Madaran'', was an Iranian-language short ...

about

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n women leading a quiet sexual revolution. The film stars

Arunachalam Muruganantham Arunachalam Muruganantham (Padman) is a social entrepreneur from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, India. He is the inventor of a low-cost sanitary pad-making machine and is credited for innovating grassroots mechanisms for generating awareness abou ...

, Shabana Khan, Gouri Choudari, Ajeya, and Anita. The documentary short follows a group of local women in

Hapur Hapur is a city in, as well as the headquarters of, Hapur district, in Uttar Pradesh, India. Located about east of New Delhi, the city is part of the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR). National Highway 9 passes through the city, connecting i ...

, India, as they learn how to operate a machine that makes low-cost, biodegradable

sanitary pads A menstrual pad, or simply a pad, (also known as a sanitary pad, sanitary towel, sanitary napkin or feminine napkin) is an absorbent item worn by women in their underwear when menstruating, bleeding after giving birth, recovering from gynecolo ...

, which they sell to other women at affordable prices. This not only helps to improve feminine hygiene by providing access to basic products but also supports and empowers the women to shed the

taboo A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

s in India surrounding

menstruation Menstruation (also known as a period, among other colloquial terms) is the regular discharge of blood and mucosal tissue from the inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. The menstrual cycle is characterized by the rise and fall of hor ...

all while contributing to the economic future of their community. The film is inspired by the life of Arunachalam Muruganantham, a social activist from

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

, India.

PLOT

Women are in charge of a tremendous change in a Kathikera village in the Hapur district which is 60 km away from Delhi, India. They battle the pervasive shame associated with menstruation. Their tale is presented in the documentary called "Period. End of Sentence", which was produced by Rayka Zehtabchi. The lack of access to pads among these women for centuries resulted in health issues, school absences, and eventual dropout of the girls. However, when a sanitary pad factory is set up in the hamlet, the women are taught how to produce and sell their own pads, which empowers the women there. They chose the brand name "FLY" for their company because they want women "to arise."

Reception

Critical response

''Period. End of Sentence'' has an approval rating of on

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

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, based on reviews, and an average rating of .

Accolades

*Winner of the

Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) This is a list of films by year that have received an Academy Award together with the other nominations for best documentary short film. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are annou ...

91st Academy Awards The 91st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2018 and took place on February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, A ...

*Winner of the Academy Award qualifying festivals for Best Short Doc at the Cleveland International Film Festival, the Traverse City Film Festival as well as many others including AFIFest, and Savannah.

References

External linPad project

* *
The Padproject

Trailer