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Film Screening: It's A Girl

A screening of It's A Girl will be held at the Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco.

When:
November 28, 2012 6:30pm to 9:30pm
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About the Film:
In India, China and many other parts of the world today, girls are killed, aborted and abandoned simply because they are girls. The United Nations estimates as many as 200 million girls are missing in the world today because of this so-called gendercide. Girls who survive infancy are often subject to neglect, and many grow up to face extreme violence and even death at the hands of their own husbands or other family members. The war against girls is rooted in centuries-old tradition and sustained by deeply ingrained cultural dynamics which, in combination with government policies, accelerate the elimination of girls.

Shot on location in India and China, It's A Girl reveals the issue. It asks why this is happening, and why so little is being done to save girls and women. The film tells the stories of abandoned and trafficked girls, of women who suffer extreme dowry-related violence, of brave mothers fighting to save their daughters' lives, and of other mothers who would kill for a son. Global experts and grassroots activists put the stories in context and advocate different paths towards change, while collectively lamenting the lack of any truly effective action against this injustice.

Run Time: 63 minutes
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Director's Statement:
A decade and a half of capturing stories of poverty and human tragedy had left me almost numb. Repeated exposure to overwhelming need around the world has that effect. However, my first trip to India to research and film stories of gendercide exposed me to a whole new kind of suffering. Nothing I had seen in my travels even remotely compared to the scale of routine injustice seen in the practice of gendercide.

The war against girls is particularly heartbreaking to me because it is so often waged within family and community where a girl should find the greatest level of protection and provision. But centuries-old traditions, sustained by deeply ingrained cultural mores that say women are worth less than men, have robbed millions of women of the safety and security they should find at home and in their community. The thought of my own wife and daughter suffering in such a hostile environment is unthinkable!

The completion of It's A Girl has left me with more questions than answers: How can husbands and mothers perpetrate such violence against their own daughters and wives? How can the government of China, responsible for protecting its citizens, justify the coercive and destructive One Child Policy? How can doctors in India, trained to save life, participate in the taking of life on such a massive scale? How can the elected officials and judges in India stand by and refuse to enforce the laws that are in place to protect girls from such widespread abuse and neglect?

And, one of my greatest puzzles: how can the world community stand by and allow gendercide to continue? As members of that world community, we are obligated to act; to know is not enough. That is what we believe at Shadowline Films, and that is why we do what we do. As we release It's A Girl, I ask myself whether or not the world will respond to our call and rise up in defense of the innocent. My deep hope and desire is that the stories of It's A Girl will capture the hearts of audiences globally and compel us all to rise up and fuel a movement to end gender-based violence and killings, as well as resoundingly affirm the worth and dignity of girls and women in India, China and the rest of the world.

Cost: 
Free