Guneet Monga ecstatic as her documentary is in the running for an Oscar
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 24, 2019)

Guneet Monga is “over the moon” since learning that her documentary short on mensuration, Period. End of Sentence, has been nominated for the 91st Academy Awards. The film features young girls and women from Hapur in Uttar Pradesh and talks about how low-cost sanitary pad machines impacted their lives.

One of the many executive producers, an elated Guneet told Mirror that late last year they learnt that they had made it to the top 10 in the Documentary Short Subject category. On Tuesday, they were informed that they are among the top five nominees. “I am also an Academy member and I get to vote too but not in this category,” she was quick to point out.

Guneet admits that in LA there have been several screenings of the shortlisted films, but she hasn’t had a chance to watch them. “But I will do that now,” she asserts, going on to recall her previous Oscar outing, an eventful one. “In 2010, I had a short film, Kavi, in the running for an Oscar and really wanted to attend the ceremony but had no money. The film was based on a kid from a slum and the government at the time, in particular Prithviraj Chauhan, the then Science and Technology minister, helped me get a visa and tickets. My stay in LA was sponsored by a travel company.”

This time, she wants to take the girl from the NGO, Action India, who facilitated the project, and Sneha, a girl who features in the film who is funding her training for Delhi Police by selling pads. “I want them at least on the red carpet,” she states.

She goes on to inform that some 12-14-year-old girls of Los Angeles’s Oakwood School through bake sales, kickstarters and yogathons raised, 40,000 dollars. They had read that there are girls in villages of India who are unable to attend school when they have their periods and decided to fund a couple of pad machines. These machines in India are made by Arunachalam Muruganantham. “They got in touch with the NGO which works in Hapur. When we learnt this, we thought of making a film about how these machines can impact lives and become a larger movement,” she says. They hired an award-winning director Rayka Zehtabchi who has just graduated from film school.

Quiz her on how she came on board and she says the mother of one of the girls, Stacey Sher, has produced Quentin Tarantino’s films. “She reached out to me saying her daughter and her friends were trying to make the movie in India and if I could help. I met them and came on board to produce it from India,” she explains, saying her associate Mandakini Kakar, also a young producer herself, did a lot of the research and ensured the women featured in the film were comfortable on camera. “It’s also Mandakini’s voice asking the women questions.”
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Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; January 24, 2019)

Guneet Monga was in Indore on Tuesday when she learnt that her production, Period. End Of Sentence, has earned a nomination in the Best Documentary Short Subject category of Oscars 2019.

As the congratulatory calls started pouring in, the producer celebrated by treating herself to golgappas. “I was in Indore to attend the wedding of Sneha Khanwalkar [musician] and Kanu Behl [director]. I did mooh meetha of all the guests by offering them paan,” laughs Monga.

A day later, she says the news has yet to sink in. “Last year, the film bagged several awards all over the globe. Now, this is the ultimate award ceremony,” says Monga, whose previous productions Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), The Lunchbox (2013), and Masaan (2015) have won acclaim at international film festivals.

The idea to make a film on the taboo that surrounds the subject of menstruation came from a bunch of school kids and their teacher, Melissa Bertin, at Oakwood School in Los Angeles. “When they learnt that girls in Hapur had to drop out of schools because of their menstrual cycle and the stigma associated with it, through the NGO, Action India, they decided to install a pad vending machine in the village.”

With barely a month to go for the ceremony, the producer wants the real- life heroes to be by her side on the big day. “I want them [girls from Hapur and Action India] to walk the red carpet. I have to start looking for sponsorships. Some do not even have a passport.”

Organising screenings of the film before the final voting on February 19 is also on the agenda.