A still from the film Impure, starring Eunice Ruwa, which addresses the issue of ‘period shaming’ ©Common Light Pictures   

A global campaign aims to tackle taboos, ignorance and misinformation about menstrual health and hygiene by using the award-winning German-Kenyan social impact film Impure as a catalyst for change.

‘I’m thrilled to have received the “best international actress” award at the 6th Nepal Cultural International Film Festival,’ says a beaming Eunice Ruwa, the emerging teenage star of the feature film Impure. Inspired by true events, the film is a coming-of-age tale that addresses the issue of ‘period shaming’ and tells the story of a young girl in Kenya who faces ridicule from her teacher and classmates when she gets her first period at school and is sent home for having soiled her uniform and ‘being dirty’. The film exposes the taboos surrounding menstruation and aims to highlight the harmful consequences of staying silent about such experiences: Since no one has educated her about this natural process, she is frightened by what is happening to her body: Is she sick? Will she ever be able to go to school again?

A film made to educate, inform and inspire

Impure, a German-Kenyan social impact film, made a huge splash at the 6^th Nepal Cultural Film Festival held at the end of January in Kathmandu, playing to a packed theatre and appreciative audiences. Beautifully filmed on location in Kenya, the film is designed to educate, inform, and inspire, challenging negative notions of menstruation as something impure and dirty and instead portraying it as a natural, pure bodily function that every girl and woman goes through – whether they live in Kenya, Nepal or elsewhere.

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Like Jackline Chepngeno in Kenya (whose story is depicted by Eunice in the film), many women in Nepal face restrictions on participating in daily life during their period. At the most extreme end, according to persistent ancient beliefs in some remote rural areas largely in the far west of Nepal, a menstruating girl or woman is considered impure and untouchable and must observe the tradition of Chhaupadi, where she is isolated from the rest of her family and confined to a goat or cow hut during menstruation.

All around the world, poor information about menstrual health and hygiene and access to safe, affordable products to manage periods is exacerbating social and economic inequalities for girls and women, affecting their education, personal safety and human rights. According to UNICEF and the World Health Organization, an estimated one in three children (646 million) around the world does not have access to basic hygiene services in their schools. Only two out of every five schools globally provide menstrual health education.  

A new social impact campaign to fight taboos

German development cooperation has been actively supporting global and partner country efforts to improve menstrual health and hygiene for many years now. When advisors with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) became aware of Impure, they quickly recognized its value as a powerful visual tool for advocacy that aligns with its goal of raising awareness about menstrual health as an essential part of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

As part of this campaign, GIZ helped to facilitate travel and accommodation so that Eunice, Impure’s German director, and two of the Kenyan creative and production partners could attend the film festival in Kathmandu. The aim was to facilitate a global exchange of perspectives and to expand the film’s reach as a blueprint for other social impact films. 

A new approach that builds on previous campaigns

The global campaign builds on previous successful German development cooperation approaches to raise awareness about menstrual health and hygiene. These took off following the summit on menstrual health management held in Kathmandu, Nepal, in 2018, and gained pace with the growing use of social media and the involvement of local Goodwill Ambassadors. The well-known Nepali actress, producer and social activist Keki Adhikari – who also had won ‘Best National Women’s Film Award’ in a previous film festival – showed the way with her promotion of ‘clictivism’ through the #LetsTalkPERIOD campaign. The ‘universal languages’ of dance and music have also been effective vehicles for promoting WASH issues through, for example, the #Dance4WASH campaign in partnership with Viva con Agua. Teenage Kenyan actress Eunice Ruwa now joins the growing rank of local actors, musicians, rapper and dancers helping to expose new audiences to WASH and menstrual health and hygiene messages.

Using social impact films is a new approach for German development cooperation and this global campaign is seen as a test run for others using storytelling to illustrate why development cooperation is important, explains Jan Schlenk. It’s also part of a bigger strategy to engage the creative industries in tackling development challenges. Victor Chudal-Linden leads GIZ projects aimed at developing the film industry in Kenya, Ghana and Rwanda, improving skills and creating jobs. One area of focus is understanding target audiences and how to get messages across – essential information for film makers, such as the German-Kenyan co-production team behind Impure. ‘Our aim is to create new solutions, new market knowledge, and new kinds of services that can afterwards be used in the industry as a whole,’ says Victor.

Art meets advocacy to create an impact

‘Impure proves that art can meet advocacy to create an impact,’ says the film’s director, Rico Herre. ‘Our goal was to create something that goes beyond entertainment, where audiences feel motivated to take action, to engage in dialogue or to support advocacy efforts.’ He says making Impure, his first feature film, was a ‘burden of love’. Working with Ignacio Hennigs, the director of photography/producer; Kenyan production partners Khadija Abdulqadir and Alison Ngibuini; and novice Kenyan actors, the film took five years to make (largely due to disruptions from COVID) and was entirely self-financed.

‘It’s very important to show the film to mixed audiences,’ says Rico. ‘We knew that this film would empower girls, but it also impacts the boys who watch it.’  After a test screening of the film held in Samburu, Northern Kenya last year with over 600 young girls and boys attending, questionnaires were handed out to assess reactions to the film. ‘I don’t have to be afraid anymore. This movie has changed my life,’ wrote one young girl. ‘I will never laugh at a girl again,’ one young boy shared.

With every screening, I could see the impact of the film and how it hit home for people, how they reflect on the film, how they process the film afterwards and how engaged they were in the discussions

Rico Herre, Director

Universal stories to move the world

As well as facilitating the exchange between Kenya and Nepal,GIZ has already partnered with the Impure team for special screenings in Addis Ababa, Berlin, Frankfurt, Lagos, Nouakchott (the first French-language national premiere) and, more recently, in Lilongwe, Malawi.

As the sunlight streamed through cracks in the curtains, around 50 staff from the GIZ country office in Malawi, plus others engaged in development work in one of the poorest countries in the world, gathered for a private screening.  As the credits rolled at the end, the audience was visibly moved, and everyone burst into enthusiastic applause. A frank and free-flowing discussion about issues raised in the film followed, as local and international staff members alike shared their own experiences.

Gender adviser Alinafe Irene Nonhlanhla Gama described how, when she was growing up, menstruating girls were not allowed to add salt to food they were cooking for fear that they would ‘harm’ others. Others pointed out that the lack of access or cost of sanitary products was the main reason for girls missing or dropping out of school, especially in rural areas.   

Linda Sankhulani, GIZ adviser on monitoring, evaluation, and learning, said she felt the film was ‘excellent.’ At the same time, some adaptations might be needed to maximise its effectiveness as an awareness tool in Malawi, given that people have little experience watching feature films in the country (the last cinema closed in the 1990s). The film would need to be dubbed into Chichewa, the local language, and used as part of facilitated sessions adapted to the Malawian cultural context. 

GIZ Country Director Alan Walsch felt that the film would be very relevant for German development cooperation work in Malawi, where the priority areas include education and health. Current initiatives on menstrual health and hygiene include working with a local partner to distribute menstrual cups and train people to use them in areas where women and girls have little access to or cannot afford sanitary products. 

Working together to improve life for millions of women and girls

As Eunice packs her suitcase and gets ready to leave Kathmandu – the first time she’s ever travelled outside Kenya – she reflects on a life changing experience: ‘I’ve learned so much from both making this film, and now from exchanging experiences with other activists here in Nepal. It’s left me hopeful that, working together, we can bring about change and improve the lives of millions of women and girls.’

Ruth Evans
February 2025