Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy releases the third and fourth episode of her global series Fundamental. Gender Justice. No Exceptions titled United States – Rising Power and Kenya – Girls at the Heart of It respectively.
The episodes are directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and produced by Safyah Zafar Usmani and Shahrukh Waheed from SOC Films. Rising Power focuses on the intersectional justice movement in the US led by people of color and how it confronts oppression and patriarchy each day. In an increasingly polarized and racially segregated United States, white supremacy and patriarchy are thriving. Conservative and liberal leaders alike refuse to address the outsized impact of institutional and systemic violence on people of color, women, and queer and gender nonconforming people.
Read: Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s Sitara becomes the first ever Netflix original from Pakistan
The episode is based out of Madison, Wisconsin, focusing on community organizers Kabzuag and M, co-directors of Freedom Inc. What began as a sexual assault support group has grown into an organization at the forefront of battles over education reform, police brutality, land access and ownership, women’s safety and security, and mental health.
The fourth episode from Kenya, Girls at the Heart of It focuses on comprehensive sexuality education in Kenya and how young women leaders are spreading knowledge and activism to take control of their own futures.
Today, young Kenyan women and girls are taking their futures into their own hands. The fourth episode follows two young women from Akili Dada, a women-led grassroots organization focused on empowering girls and young women ages 13 -22 to become leaders in Kenya, including through sexual and reproductive health advocacy.
A production of SOC Films and Global Fund for Women, it is a five-episode international documentary series which follows dynamic activists from five countries (Brazil, Georgia, Kenya, USA and Pakistan) who are disrupting the status quo and radically altering the course of history for women and girls – and all historically marginalized people and communities globally.
This is the first time an all-Pakistan crew has created a global series. This is also the first global series to be officially presented and released by YouTube Originals and Refinery29.
You can watch how women’s rights are violated every day in Kenya here:
