Netflix releases stop-motion poem from Daughters of Destiny
David Farnor | On 31, Jul 2017
“I am that girl who shoots bullets into the sky and makes doorways of freedom, hope and relief.”
Preetha’s Poem, a stop-motion video illustrating a young girl’s desire to escape the Indian caste system, was released today by Netflix for its original documentary series Daughters of Destiny.
The four-part show chronicles the lives of five girls from Indian families who are among the so-called “Dalit” caste and most impoverished communities in the world. The series witnesses the girls grow up (ranging in age from 7 to 23) while they are raised at Shanti Bhavan, a unique co-ed residential school in Tamil Nadu. The expectation for these girls and all the children who attend Shanti Bhavan is that they must grow up to support themselves, lift their families and communities out of poverty and contribute to the larger world.
Directed by Academy Award® winning filmmaker Vanessa Roth, one of its standout moments is this poem written by a young daughter who wants to pull her mother up out of despair and poverty. Now, it has been brought to vivid life by female-run NYC animation studio Mighty Oak, using silhouettes to visualise the pain behind the words. If you’re moved by this, we highly recommend checking out the whole series.
Trailer: Daughters of Destiny to premiere on Netflix this July
29th June 2017
Netflix is heading to India for its latest original series, Daughters of Destiny.
The four-part show will give us an insight into the lives of some of the most impoverished communities in the world. Directed by Oscar winner Vanessa Roth, the series will chronicle the lives of five girls from Indian families, who are being raised at Shanti Bavan, a residential school in Tamil Nadu. Since 1997, the school has provided free education for some of India’s most underrepresented children. The four girls at the centre of the show will be expected to grow up to support themselves and life themselves out of poverty,
The documentary was filmed over seven years, taking us into their homes and families, an emotiona journey brought to life by Slumdog Millionaire composer A.R Rahman. Roth will tell viewers the unforgettable story of a school that has changed countless lives for the better. With any luck, says Netflix, it might even inspire others to do the same.
The series joins a growing wave of Netflix original documentaries, as the streaming service continues to enjoy strong success in the non-fiction arena. Indeed, its short film The White Helmets won the Oscar for Best Short Documentary this year, while its latest original feature documentary, Chasing Coral, released in July, is the follow-up to the Oscar-nominated Chasing Ice.
Here’s a trailer for Daughters of Destiny. For more on what’s coming soon to July, click here.
Daughters of Destiny is available on Netflix UK, as part of an £9.99 monthly subscription.