Pandora's Box

Subtitled “Lifting the Lid on Menstruation”, this sometimes cheeky but always thoughtful exploration of issues surrounding women’s menstrual cycles takes a trip around the world, showing how patriarchal attitudes have led to women's oppression and marginalisation. Superstitious practices and stigmas still pervade in many religious belief systems and cultures today, from social ostracisation to violent practices like female genital mutilation. In India, bringing accessible menstruation products to the millions of women living in poverty without these basic amenities seems an insurmountable challenge. The documentary references the popular Bollywood movie Padman, which tells the true story of L. Chauhan, an Indian inventor of a machine capable of churning out inexpensive sanitary pads for the many lower caste Indian women relying on rags to manage their periods. Shot on location in India, Kenya, Uganda and the UK, Pandora's Box shines a light on the astounding reality that in an age in which we are demanding gender equality like never before, no major narrative has dared to tackle what is still a controversial subject for so many. (Whistler Film Festival)