Film Review. A Journey With A Hope: Breaking the Silence on Menstruation in Kenya.
“How one girl’s tragic story illuminates the urgent need for menstrual education and mental health advocacy.”
By Rachel Robles
The Film.
The Film Review.
A Journey With A Hope, directed by Amelie Truffert and Paul Drawbridge, is a film that delves into the stigmas of menstruation in Kenya. This film embarks on the journey of Jackline Chepngeno. While her time on earth was cut short, her story was shared by these first-time filmmakers. Jackline was a lively teenage girl, according to her mother. She was responsible, caring, and a person who valued her education. These values soon changed after a life-altering event, leaving her community in shambles.
On this event day, Jackline was made fun of and shamed for her period by her classmates and teacher. Her teacher even decided to inflict violence, hitting her on the head. It was this moment in which a decision would be made. The decision to unfortunately take her last breath in this world. As this is the catalyst to the film, viewers then see interviews with her teacher and her classmates, retelling different events from that fateful day. The teacher, Jannifer Chemutai, claimed that it was a normal day. Not much occurred other than the incident of Jackline first beginning her period. However, her classmate spoke about the abuse of Jackline. It’s this segment of the story that leaves viewers enticed into a dilemma of support for education about women’s menstruation and the advocacy for mental health.
The film overall displays how the lack of communication and education can lead to one’s fatality. This story from Kenya is just a small glimpse into the bigger issues on the topic of menstruation. This slice into one’s personal story puts into perspective just how important the need for resources and community is to foster change. The film touched on organizations, such as “The Grace Cup”, which are doing advocacy in Kenya. Not only are they providing reusable menstruation products but they are also educating the young generation of Kenya. Glimpses into workshops, books, and plenty of resources to spark change. With the need for change, conversations amongst not only the community but within personal connections need to occur.
In the third segment of the film, conversations between women, particularly mothers, spoke about their earliest experiences of menstruation. Many expressed shame or not knowing what it was. These women spoke about how frustrating it was to not be able to be seen as normal. Mothers spoke about how they are raising their children to understand what menstruation is. While this may seem small, this makes a significant difference in the world. It was important to highlight familial units in this documentary. It allows the audience to feel closer to the need for advocacy.
Overall with its beautiful cinematography of Kenya and its beautiful score, the film embarks the audience on the road towards change with a glimmer of hope. While Jackline’s story is an extreme example of the lack of education about menstruation, we now know just how important it is to live with hope. That journey may take a significant amount of time but it’s that time that will bring about the change. Amelie Truffert and Paul Drawbridge did a beautiful job of sharing this story.
A Journey with A Hope was part of the official selection of the 2023 Women’s Voices Now Film Festival: Holding Ground Under Siege. Watch it here. Alongside other documentaries from our film collection.
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Meet The Filmmakers.
Amelie Truffert and Paul Drawbridge (unpictured) are first time film makers. Researchers by trade, they created this documentary in Kenya to share Jackline’s story and challenge the stigma around menstruation.
Meet The Author.
Rachel Robles is a Latinx Communications major at CSUF and WVN film collection intern through the la county internship program. she has directed films like Para Siempre to amplify marginalized voices and is dedicated to crafting impactful narratives.
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