The 26-minute short documentary film set in Hapur Village in Uttar Pradesh, is focussed around the stigma of menstruation in rural India and overcoming it one sanitary pad at a time. High school girls in California raised the initial money for a sanitary pad machine and began a non-profit called “The Pad Project.” When the sanitary pad machine, an invention of the now famous Pad Man Arunachalam Muruganatham is installed in the village, the women learn to manufacture and market their own pads, empowering the women of their community. They name their brand “FLY,” because they want women “to soar.” Their flight is, in part, enabled by the work of girls half a world away. Watch the teaser below.
The lead producer on the film is none other than Lisa Taback, veteran Oscar strategist Lisa Taback of consulting firm LTLA, since her daughter Claire Sliney, who is also an executive producer on the film, was among the founding members of Oakwood’s Girls Learn International. The film was funded entirely through Kickstarter and bake sales, at which point, quite a few stars were recruited to promote the film. These included Sara Gilbert, Kiefer Sutherland, Jessica Simpson and Sarah Paulson — and Jack Black was among the film’s earliest donors.
The film with 30 people listed on the producer’s team feature three producers from India, Guneet Monga and Shaan Vyas and Mandakini Kakar from her company Sikhya Entertainment, which is known for backing films like The Lunchbox and Masaan.
The film premiered at the Cleveland International Film Festival in April 2018, winning the Best Documentary Award there. It has since played and won at AFI Fest, Port Townsend, Santa Fe, Savannah and Traverse City Film Festival.
A total of 104 films had originally qualified in the Documentary Short Subject category. The nominations for the 91st Oscars will be announced on January 22, 2019, a month ahead of the ceremony, which is slated to be held on February 24, 2019.