by Anna Zacovic
In honor of “Girls Day,” West Sound Academy had a showing of the new movie Girl Rising on Oct. 11. Directed by Richard Robbins, Girl Rising follows nine girls from nine different countries in their journey to get an education. These girls are Sokha from Cambodia, Ruksana from India, Suma from Nepal, Yasmin from Egypt, Senna from Peru, Azmera from Ethiopia, Amina from Afghanistan, Wadley from Haiti, and Mariama from Sierra. The movie opens with Sokha preforming a Cambodian dance, and then moves on to her story. The stories of the girls were written by authors who were paired with each of them. Each author was from each of the girl’s countries of origin. The stories were voiced over by famous actresses, including Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Cate Blanchette, Selena Gomez, Priyanka Chopra, Chloë Moretz, and Freida Pinto.
In between each story, the movie introduces statistics on how an education can help girls prevent diseases, and help their country. One of the statistics given was that 66 million girls in the world are not in school for reasons such as poverty. The film ends with the story of Amina, an 11 year old bride and mother. All of the girls appear as themselves in the film except Amina and Yasmin, who were not shown for their own safety.
Before the movie screening, Director of Admissions Lisa Gsellman introduced Tami and Demi, two exchange students who were brought to West Sound by CIEE, a study abroad organization that is partnered with the Girl Rising Project. When the film ended, students Madeleine Bentley (11th), Dhoha Jerbi and Sarah Herrington (12th) led a group discussion. Each of the students brought a unique perspective and different experiences to the discussion. Dhoha, an exchange student from Tunisia, talked about her cousin, who forced his religious beliefs onto his wife. She also and mentioned several other situations of women who were being oppressed and unfairly treated in her country of origin. Sarah has lived in many places around the world, including Dubai, and shared a story of a family friend whose husband died while they were living in Dubai. The woman, as Sarah explained, had to get the permission of a man to get control of her bank account and custody of her children. The night ended with an open discussion for the audience, where a parent commented that in order to change others we must first change within ourselves. “Change must come from within,” she said.
In between each story, the movie introduces statistics on how an education can help girls prevent diseases, and help their country. One of the statistics given was that 66 million girls in the world are not in school for reasons such as poverty. The film ends with the story of Amina, an 11 year old bride and mother. All of the girls appear as themselves in the film except Amina and Yasmin, who were not shown for their own safety.
Before the movie screening, Director of Admissions Lisa Gsellman introduced Tami and Demi, two exchange students who were brought to West Sound by CIEE, a study abroad organization that is partnered with the Girl Rising Project. When the film ended, students Madeleine Bentley (11th), Dhoha Jerbi and Sarah Herrington (12th) led a group discussion. Each of the students brought a unique perspective and different experiences to the discussion. Dhoha, an exchange student from Tunisia, talked about her cousin, who forced his religious beliefs onto his wife. She also and mentioned several other situations of women who were being oppressed and unfairly treated in her country of origin. Sarah has lived in many places around the world, including Dubai, and shared a story of a family friend whose husband died while they were living in Dubai. The woman, as Sarah explained, had to get the permission of a man to get control of her bank account and custody of her children. The night ended with an open discussion for the audience, where a parent commented that in order to change others we must first change within ourselves. “Change must come from within,” she said.