<p class="title">A film on menstruation, set in rural India, titled "Period. End of Sentence," has won the Oscar in the Documentary Short Subject category at the 91st Academy Awards.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Award-winning filmmaker Rayka Zehtabchi has directed the short film, which has been produced by Indian producer Guneet Monga's Sikhya Entertainment.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The film came to into being as a part of The Pad Project, started by students at the Oakwood School in Los Angeles and their teacher, Melissa Berton.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I'm not crying because I'm on my period or anything. I can't believe a film on menstruation won an Oscar," Zehtabchi said in her acceptance speech.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She also gave a nod to Monga.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Guneet Monga - know that you have been empowering women all over the world fight for menstrual equality," she added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Dedicating the award to her school, Berton said the project was born because her students in LA and people in India wanted to make a "human rights difference".</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I share this award with the Feminist Majority Foundation, the entire team and cast. I share this with the teachers and students around the worlds - a period should end a sentence, not a girl's education," she said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The documentary feature is set in Hapur village outside Delhi, where women lead a quiet revolution as they fight against the deeply rooted stigma of menstruation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">For generations, these women did not have access to sanitary pads, which lead to health issues and girls dropping out from schools.</p>.<p class="bodytext">When a sanitary pad vending machine is installed in the village, the women learn to manufacture and market their own pads, empowering their community. They name their brand "FLY".</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It is a surreal feeling. I feel so proud and excited. I would say it is just a great intention being rewarded," Monga had told PTI post the nomination.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Other documentary shorts nominated in the category were "Black Sheep", "End Game", "Lifeboat" and "A Night at the Garden".</p>.<p class="bodytext">There has been an increased focus on period hygiene in India, which was also the subject of a mainstream Bollywood movie "Padman", starring Akshay Kumar in the lead role in a biopic on Arunachalam Muruganantham, who started making low cost pads in his village despite being ostracised.</p>
<p class="title">A film on menstruation, set in rural India, titled "Period. End of Sentence," has won the Oscar in the Documentary Short Subject category at the 91st Academy Awards.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Award-winning filmmaker Rayka Zehtabchi has directed the short film, which has been produced by Indian producer Guneet Monga's Sikhya Entertainment.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The film came to into being as a part of The Pad Project, started by students at the Oakwood School in Los Angeles and their teacher, Melissa Berton.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I'm not crying because I'm on my period or anything. I can't believe a film on menstruation won an Oscar," Zehtabchi said in her acceptance speech.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She also gave a nod to Monga.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Guneet Monga - know that you have been empowering women all over the world fight for menstrual equality," she added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Dedicating the award to her school, Berton said the project was born because her students in LA and people in India wanted to make a "human rights difference".</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I share this award with the Feminist Majority Foundation, the entire team and cast. I share this with the teachers and students around the worlds - a period should end a sentence, not a girl's education," she said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The documentary feature is set in Hapur village outside Delhi, where women lead a quiet revolution as they fight against the deeply rooted stigma of menstruation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">For generations, these women did not have access to sanitary pads, which lead to health issues and girls dropping out from schools.</p>.<p class="bodytext">When a sanitary pad vending machine is installed in the village, the women learn to manufacture and market their own pads, empowering their community. They name their brand "FLY".</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It is a surreal feeling. I feel so proud and excited. I would say it is just a great intention being rewarded," Monga had told PTI post the nomination.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Other documentary shorts nominated in the category were "Black Sheep", "End Game", "Lifeboat" and "A Night at the Garden".</p>.<p class="bodytext">There has been an increased focus on period hygiene in India, which was also the subject of a mainstream Bollywood movie "Padman", starring Akshay Kumar in the lead role in a biopic on Arunachalam Muruganantham, who started making low cost pads in his village despite being ostracised.</p>