A Delhi Based Short Film Just Won The Oscar!

‘Period. End Of Sentence’, the film directed by Rayka Zehtabchi and available on Netflix, just won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short.

With the 91st Academy Awards having been shrouded in controversy even before their telecast  - from the lack of a host and the introduction (and then reversal) of a ‘Best Popular Picture’ category, to their bizarre decision (and, yet again, subsequent reversal) to present some categories during the commercial breaks - the Oscars this year hadn’t necessarily done much to warrant our excitement. The fact that no Indian film has been nominated for the ‘Best Foreign Language’ award since Lagaan in 2001, and that Dev Patel is the closest we’ve gotten to seeing an Indian actor win an Oscar, and we can be forgiven for not really looking forward to seeing the Academy Awards.  

However, during the Oscars this year, there was one incredible moment for Indian representation - ‘Period. End of Sentence’ winning the OSCAR for Best Documentary Short. The film, that has been streaming on Netflix, depicts women living in a rural village right outside Delhi fighting the stigma of menstruation, the health problems they have to face because they don’t have access to sanitary pads, and the tragedy of girls having to give up on their education just because they are on their periods.   

As director Rayka Zehtabchi rightfully said during her acceptance speech, “A Period should end a sentence, not a girl’s education”.