Mar 6, 2023

She Creates Change" animated short film aims to reach 432 million adolescent girls worldwide

Room to Read, a global educational organization, has announced She Creates Change, a multimedia, animation and live-action film project that promotes gender equality by telling the stories of young women around the world.

She Creates Change is a collection of six animated shorts and accompanying live-action documentaries that complement their stories and introduce viewers to the real girls who inspired them. The true stories are told by young women from historically low-income communities in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Vietnam. Each is a former participant in Room to Read. [Short stories were written to depict how the six protagonists confronted the unique challenges of their lives, including harassment, food insecurity, early marriage, climate change, financial literacy, discrimination, and menstruation. Each piece also focuses on the life skills the protagonists learned to advocate for themselves and their future.

All six stories will be released this October in celebration of International Day of the Girl.

They will be produced by the award-winning British Nexus Studios ("The House," "The Tape Deck is a Time Machine"). The films will be available in dozens of languages, including English, Spanish, and Hindi, and will be distributed worldwide through the Room to Read program and by working with community organizations and local governments.

For the short film, Nexus recruited a diverse team of women directors and artists from around the world. They include Oscar nominee Siki Song, Hannah Lau-Walker, Bonnie Forsythe, Claudia Chinyere Akore, Neeraja Raj and Prashanti Aswani. Emmy Award-winning producer Martha Adams ("Girls Rising," "We Will Rise: Michelle Obama's Mission to Educate Girls Around the World") will direct and produce. Other producers include Oscar winners Brenda Chapman ("Brave") and Jill Crichton ("Abominable").

In a promotional video, Adams says, "The animation helps the audience see the girl in a whole new light. Who a girl is and who she wants to be should not be limited by the circumstances of her life. Animation can direct us to what matters most, what is happening inside. An incredible place where her hopes and dreams reside."

The program will include short films and accompanying documentaries, as well as books and audio stories. According to the organizers, their loft goal is to "reach all 432 million adolescent girls worldwide with content and educational curriculum that will help them make a difference in their lives and communities."

Room to Read CEO Dr. Geeta Murali said in a release: "Every girl in the world woke up today with the same need: to be able to make a difference in her life. She must use her skills of resilience, confidence, and critical thinking to overcome challenges for herself, her family, and her community. To achieve a world without gender inequality, girls must have access to role models who can help them develop these critical skills and enable perseverance. she Creates Change is a role model that demonstrates the use of critical skills to achieve positive change Inspired by the stories featured in She Creates Change, young women around the world can activate their abilities as changemakers and make informed choices to shape their own futures. I am confident that they will make informed choices to shape their futures. [Julia Parfitt, executive producer of Nexus Studios, said, "The work that Room to Read does is evident in the stories we told, and the impact on the lives of young girls shared through authentic voices was as inspiring as it was uplifting. It was a great privilege to have the opportunity to work with Room to Read and Martha's team to curate a diverse and (mostly) female team of world-class talent, including directors, screenwriters, actors, musicians, composers, and producers: ...... The result of this effort paints a truly emotional picture that brings the director and the subject together to tell a story that universally resonates. I am so pleased to have been able to do this using a variety of animation styles that enhance and bring joy to it."