Kenya: Twelve-year-old June gets her period for the first time—and is confronted with social stigma and ignorance from those around her. While she is playing, she suddenly feels sharp pains, and the next day she bleeds into her uniform during class. Instead of supporting her, the teacher sends her home, and her classmates laugh at her. Uninformed by her mother and full of fear, and afraid of infecting her mother’s unborn baby with her supposed illness, June sees no way out. Inspired by a true story, the film impressively shows how menstruation is still associated with shame in Kenyan society—and what consequences it can have when girls are denied basic knowledge about their own bodies. A thought-provoking coming-of-age story about a taboo that should not be one.
