IMPURE is the title of a brand new feature film directed by Rico Herre, that has been showed at different film stages so far and today it’s shown at Tuschinky Theatre in Amsterdam. Let me copy paste a text by Rico Herre this week mentioning International Women day on his LinkedIn page.
On this World Women's Day 2025, with the theme #AccelerateAction, I want to take the chance to emphasize that menstruation is a basic human right. The red carpet at Berlinale 2025 was a good platform to advocate for menstrual equity on a global stage.
As the director of the feature film IMPURE, a film highlighting the harrowing consequences of period stigma and poverty, I am thrilled to be part of the new campaign by Viva con Agua called #MenstruationisamatterofHumanRights.
The Opening of Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) brought together influential voices from cinema, activism, and social change, making it the perfect setting to push this conversation forward. A special thank you to Agnes Fritz and Belinda Abraham from Viva con Agua for their incredible initiative! During Berlinale, we held a screening of IMPURE with Viva con Agua. A small but deeply impactful event.
Today, my heart and thoughts go out to all those fighting for #menstrualfreedom, whose voices deserve to be heard, amplified, and supported:
Janet Mbugua, Rachael kerubo, Dr. Aruna Mavji Varsani, Radha Paudel, PhD, Keki Adhikari, Stella Nyanzi, Inonge Kaloustian, MHS, Severine Allute, Mwangala Ikacana, Charlotte Petty, Danielle Keiser, Deborah Maufi MD, MBA, Odette (Salden) Hekster, Ina Jurga, Melissa Berton, Trine Angeline Sig, Naisula Lepariyo, milka Hadida, Grace Wanene, Monicah W. Muhoya, Angela W., Hawah Maria Kone, Bonita Sharma, Janina Breitling, Arundati Muralidharan, Marije Broekhuijsen, Thorsten Kiefer and many, many more!
Let's keep the momentum going!
A Happy Women's Day. ✨ 🫶
The theme of the film is as many of you know about a subject close to my heart and at the heart of my fundraisers over the past few years. It’s stunning that the subject of period poverty is catching more attention and captured through the arts with the making of Impure, the film. It’s massive that now we can go watch what is period poverty, what does the stigma and taboo do with girls worldwide.
It’s shocking that 1 out of 3 girls worldwide got simply zero access to clean menstrual projects. That only 2 out of 5 schools worldwide provide any menstrual projects. It’s the mouth dropping sad reality that we will hear phrases like: it never stops having another period. Like in, why should we even start to think about taking care of it as if that will ever solve the problem. That’s where we should the conservation and comment that having access to menstrual products is a human right. Not having access to menstrual products creates a burden so big, so red, so period massive that a decent life, a healthy future, a live in the moment your life simply doesn’t exist.
There’s no clean, safe existence for girls around the world growing up in societies where the stigma of bleeding, having one’s period is not accepted, doesn’t exist, can’t be seen, should be hidden away from daylight. Half of worlds population are women and too many live in fear, can’t live their whole life, don’t go to school for many days, aren’t able to play sports, be social, hang out, live! Let’s act together, raise awareness for better saver lives and create access to menstrual products. It’s a long way ahead and it’s needed. The good fight has to be fought and I’m happy that I came across https://t4bfoundation.org/ and the marvellous work and ongoing fight from her founder Dr. Aruna Varsani .