To mark the occasion of International Women's Day on 8th March, we organised the screening of a powerful movie “Girl Rising” in partnership with Human Rights Film Focus at the British Council Nepal. The screenings was scheduled a day prior to the big day. Over 130 students from different local schools, foundations and NOGs attended the screening.
The movie “Girl Rising” depicts the stories of nine girls from different part of the world reflecting the hardships these vulnerable girls’ endeavours to overcome societal and cultural barriers. The student from one of the school expressed how emotional but at the same time how inspirational it was. “Child slavery is still being practiced in Nepal and watching the movie deeply touched my heart to learn what Suma from Bardi, Nepal went through as a bonded labour. Showcasing such documentaries definitely raises awareness amongst us and makes us think about the wrong practices which still persist.”
While many students also voiced out “the importance of educating girls” and “having equal rights gives girls the opportunity to break barriers and be the voice for the change.”
The storytelling of nine girls was written by renowned writer from their respective native country. “The film builds compassion within us while we witnessed a young girl working in the dump or how Suma expresses ‘a goat is treated better than herself’. It was a very moving feature film” proclaims a student.
While Bev Hoffman, Co-ordinator of the Wall of Hope Campaign from Human Rights Film Focus Nepal stressed out “Many younger generations are not fully aware about the ongoing global issues so on this special occasion of International Women’s Day, we wanted to raise awareness. These children are our future. Although change takes time but we should speak up, speak out against women violence.”