Brave Girl Rising Reflection

Attending the screening of Brave Girl Rising was truly a distinct experience from the other GIP events I've attended, including Kalyanee Mam's screening of her documentary. Martha Adams described her efforts to create a film as something different from a documentary, and after watching her film, I certainly agree with her. Brave Girl Rising is framed through poetry and through visuals, the latter of which may not be as immediately apparent.
                  I found it an interesting creative decision to use a verbal medium to describe visuals, but I can see the value behind the poetic language used to describe the setting and the experiences of Nasro, the focus of the film. As someone interested in art and by extension how it's used in the story-telling process, I paid attention to the environment that Brave Girl Rising was filmed in, which I remember being described in text as "not quite beautiful," yet I feel that creative efforts were taken to capture the beauty of the environment, especially in the scene where Nasro dreams of talking to her mother. The idea of religion and its strength to guide positively was recurring in the film: Nasro symbolically uses the henna tattoo inspired by her mother to ward off her assailants in a particularly powerful scene, and the post-film commentary by Adams revealed Nasro's belief in her religion as a motivating force in her life.
                  I was inspired by Adams' commentary after the film, where she was able to describe many other aspects of the film and challenges facing the world that could be addressed with educating women, which I feel could have been included in Brave Girl Rising. For me, I feel Brave Girl Rising suffered from being too short: I wanted to know more about Nasro and her role in the community, as well as her day-to-day challenges, which I feel,  are also important to discuss in a holistic view of the life and struggle of a refugee. Adams mentioned her desire to choose a girl as a focus of the movie that is less of a success story and more of a normal, relatable person, which I feel could have been improved with more discussion of Nasro herself and what she feels in terms of using education or her experiences with other girls. That being said, I feel the creative approach that Adams and her team pulled off effectively portrayed being a refugee in digestible terms, and showcased the profound meaning to Nasro's daily struggle in a compact 20-minute viewing.