Earlier today, India unanimously erupted in euphoria when Guneet Monga's Period End of Sentence bagged the honour for Best Documentary Short Subject Category at Oscars 2019. The film was able to beat other top nominees like Black Sheep, End Game, Lifeboat and A Night At The Garden. Though the win looks pretty easy, Guneet reveals her entire filmmaking journey was nothing short of a roller coaster ride. It's a big achievement in her kitty, yes, but she's aware of the hardships she faced. She's humbled by this big win and we're glad for a movie on such a strong subject will go down in the history of Oscars. Oscars 2019: Indian Producer Guneet Monga's Period End Of Sentence Takes Home the Trophy in Best Documentary Short Subject Category.

Reacting to her same big win, Guneet issued a statement saying, "Thank you to the Academy for the highest honour and for recognising the efforts of the young girls from Oakwood school in LA to Kathikera in UP in helping us shatter the glass ceiling. Periods are normal and in no way do they stops us from achieving anything. This has been more than 10 years of work of Action India run by Gauri Chaudhary on educating reproductive rights on the ground in many villages. Feminist Majority Movement and Girls learn International have been pushing this cause in the US."

Every girl in India or anywhere around the world needs to know this and hear this loud and clear. Period is an end of a sentence but not a girl’s education. I am honoured and absolutely humbled to partner with Melissa and Rayka in making our short documentary happen. Mandakini Kakar from Sikhya was on the floor working with the film and is the voice of the film too. And thank you Stacey Sher and Lisa Taback for supporting this massive dream. And thank you NETFLIX truly putting us on the MAP! Here is to more girl power... I really want every girl to know that each one of them is a goddess. Now, that we have an Oscar, Let’s go change the world," she added further. Oscars 2019 Complete Winners List: Green Book, Rami Malek, Olivia Colman, Black Panther Win Top Honours at 91st Academy Awards.

Period End of Sentence is a 26-minute film that follows girls and women in Hapur, India and their experience with the installation of a pad machine in their village. It's about Indian women's struggles against the deeply rooted stigma of menstruation and focusses on the work of real-life 'Pad Man' Arunachalam Muruganathan. While bagging an Academy Awards nominations was itself a trophy for her, the real honour is more like a cherry on the cake.

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 25, 2019 10:42 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).