I Am a Girl

A film by Rebecca Barry

Australia | 2013 | 88 minutes | Color | DVD | Khymer, French, Ewondo, Farsi, Tok Pisin | English subtitles | Order No. 141116 |

SYNOPSIS

There is a group of people in the world today who are more persecuted than anyone else, but they are not political or religious activists. They are girls. Being born a girl means you are more likely to be subjected to violence, disease, poverty and disadvantage than any other group on Earth.

In I AM A GIRL, we meet 14-year-old Kimsey from Cambodia, forced to sell her virginity at 12; Aziza from Afghanistan, who will be shot if she goes to school; Breani, a teen living in a ghetto of NYC and dreaming of stardom; Katie from Australia, who is recovering from a suicide attempt; Habiba from Cameroon, betrothed to a man 20 years her senior; and Manu from Papua New Guinea, about to become a mother at 14 following her first sexual encounter. As they come of age in the way their culture dictates, we see remarkable heart-warming stories of resilience, bravery and humor.

Nominated for four Australian Academy Awards including Best Documentary and Best Director, I AM A GIRL is an inspirational feature length documentary that paints a clear picture of the reality of what it means to be a girl in the 21st century.

I AM A GIRL provides practical and ready-to-use resources for educators to address human rights and social justice issues affecting girls in the classroom. Girl Be Heard Education Guides for I AM A GIRL are three units of 25 total lesson plans aligned with US Common Core Curriculum (grades 9-12), to provide a practical and ready-to-use resource for teachers to address human rights and social justice issues affecting girls around the world. Girl Be Heard Education Guides for I AM A GIRL help teachers bring important human rights topics and a future of gender equality to the classroom. For more information, go to: http://girlbeheard.org/i-am-a-girl-education-guides.

PRESS

"I AM A GIRL is unforgettable and deeply moving, profound. Director Rebecca Barry has stitched together a narrative both wrenching and uplifting. It reveals how, no matter where you're from, growing up as a girl has its unique challenges."

Commonsense Media

"I AM A GIRL offers their stories of strength, hope, courage, resilience, and a refusal to be second best."

Sarasota Film Festival

"Deeply Inspirational and succinctly moving."

Simon Foster SBS Film

"This is an affecting and effective film documenting the discrimination that is still faced by girls all over the world, and the strength of women to endure and overcome it."

Silver Screen Queen

"The powerful, poignant documentary, I AM A GIRL, is dangerous and heartbreaking, tragic and frightening… but also inspirational and uplifting… Ultimately, I AM A GIRL strikes a note of hope – here is strength, here is courage, here is determination, and they are stronger than the forces that say being a girl is second best. It is also a call to arms that says: we still have far to go."

The Hoopla

"This is an affecting and powerful film that reveals the prejudice girls face the world over."

Greg King Megaphone Oz

"This is a film that needs to be seen. This is a film about the things that unite us."

Megaphone Oz

SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS

  • Nominated for 4 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards
  • Screen Producers Australia Award, Best Feature Documentary of the Year
  • Sarasota Film Festival
  • United Nations Association Film Festival
  • Films from the South
  • Breath of Fresh Air Film Festival
  • PNG Human Rights Festival
  • Zonta Film Festival
  • Siamo Pari. La Parola Alle Donne Film Festival

ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)

Rebecca Barry

Rebecca Barry is a director and producer. In 2012 she founded Australian production company Media Stockade with fellow producer Madeleine Hetherton (www.mediastockade.com). The company has a reputation for creating extraordinary films as well as nurturing new talent and are currently collaborating with their 6th first time female director. Rebecca has won many awards and is passionate about using storytelling as a device to shift perspectives and instigate change. She was the producer of the controversial film The Opposition, that was the subject of a high profile legal case. After a resounding win in the courts, the film went on to screen at festivals around the world including Hot Docs, IDFA, Sydney Film Festival and was the opening night film at Human Rights Arts and Film Festival in 2017. Other Recent productions include the feature documentary film I am a Girl (nominated for 4 AACTA awards and winner of best documentary film at the 2014 SPA Awards); producing the critical and rating success The Surgery Ship (SBS) which evolved into an 8 part series with Nat Geo; and China Love which is enjoyed its International Premiere at DOC NYC and GZDOC. Through her experience in hybrid self-distribution of her own films she has become a sought-after expert in alternative pathways to audience and activating measurable impact. (7/19)

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