Film About Menstruation “Period. End of Sentence” Wins Oscars Best Short Documentary

A film about menstruation Period. End of Sentence. won an Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject at the Academy Awards that held on Monday February 25 (2 AM WAT). A win for the secondary school students and their teachers (under The Pad project) who were involved in the film making.

25-year-old director Rayka Zehtabchi was also the only woman nominated in the category. While receiving the award, she 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!” said Zehtabchi during her acceptance speech last night.

Period. End of Sentence.‘s life came into being after students at the Oakwood School in Los Angeles began to notice that girls at their partnering school in India were dropping out once they reached puberty. Upon investigation, they found that these girls’ menstruation were having a devastating effect on their education. To stop this menace, The Pad Project made it their mission to raise money and awareness to help these students receive the resources they needed to stay in school.
As such, Period. End of Sentence is a documentation of their journey in Hapur, India and their fight against the stigma of menstruation and their access to sanitary pads.