North Hollywood Teacher Wins an Oscar for Documentary About Menstruation
[dropcap size=big]N[/dropcap]orth Hollywood English teacher Melissa Berton and her former student Helen Yenser won an Oscar Sunday for a documentary short they produced with the help of students at Oakwood School. The doc, Period. End of Sentence., is beautifully shot and tackles the stigma associated with menstruation and a lack of access to sanitary pads in rural India.
"I share this with teachers and with students around the world," Berton said Sunday. "A period should end a sentence, not a girl's education."
The film was inspired by a trip Yenser, then a student at Oakwood, and Breton took to a United Nations conference, where they learned about the struggles women in parts of India face getting access to pads.
According to USA Today, "Many women in India use old cloths for sanitary protection, often reusing them. And an estimated 88 percent of women in India sometimes resort to using ashes, newspapers, dried leaves and husk sand to aid absorption."
Breton, Yenser, and other students at Oakwood started a Kickstarter to raise money to buy a "pad machine" that creates sanitary pads from sustainable products. The machine was invented by Arunachalam Muruganatham in 2006 and cost $12,000, according to USA Today.
Breton and her students started The Pad Project to help buy more machines and install them in rural India. They started the documentary to help promote the non-profit project.
The film is shot on location in India and is mostly in Hindi. It is available on Netflix here.
RELATED: Everything You Should Know About Roma Director Alfonso Cuarón Before the Oscars
Read More:
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
More from L.A. TACO
L.A.’s Best Secret Ecuadorian Restaurant Opens Weekends Only at This Wilshire Blvd. Cafe
On weekends,Cafe Fresco transforms into one of the rare places in the city to find seco de chivo, llapingachao, guatita, and other regional Ecuadorian eats.
The Seven Best Poke Places In Los Angeles
In Los Angeles, the poke scene is starting to heal from a bit of a hangover caused by rampant overindulgence. These are the true Hawaiian-inspired, fresh fish spots that endure for good reason. Most, located right by the beach to enjoy L.A.'s crisp ocean breeze with your sashimi-grade fish.
Spot Check: Colombian Desgranados In Echo Park, Mexican Wine Festival At Mírate, and Perverted Waffles in DTLA
Plus, a party highlighting pan-African cuisine, a new Taiwanese cookbook by an awarded local from the San Gabriel Valley, and a Little Saigon food festival that starts tonight! Welcome back to Spot Check!
This 24-Year-Old Latina Mortician Beautifies the Dead and Influences the Living
Growing up in Arleta with a first-generation family from El Salvador, Berrios admits that her family only embraced her career choice two years ago, after she started to win awards like “Young Funeral Director of the Year.” The 24-year-old works as the licenced funeral director and embalmer at Hollywood Forever cemetery. As a young person born in peak Generation Z, she's documented her deathcare journey on TikTok and has accrued more than 43K followers on the platform.
Meet ‘Carnitas Rogelio,’ The Family-Run Stand With The Best Michoacán-Style Carnitas O.C. Has to Offer
Michoacán-raised Rogelio Gonzalez slices the cuerito (the pig skin) in a checkered pattern to ensure a light crunch in each bite and utilizes every part of the pig, from the feet to the liver and intestines, which he binds together in a braid.
