Girl Rising (2013) is a documentary directed by Richard Robbins. The movie is linked to an organization, also called Girl Rising, which works to improve the lives of young women around the world who are victims of forced marriages. Often these women are sold by their parents to much older men. Many of these "marriages" are really a form of sexual slavery.
Many of the young women and their families appear in their own stories. Voice-over narration is provided by major stars: Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Selma Hayek, Liam Neeson, Meryl Streep, and Kerry Washington.
The plight of these young women is terrible, and any steps that can improve social conditions for them are worth supporting. However, as a movie, I thought that Girl Rising didn't completely work. It wasn't a stand-alone film. It made sense only with the understanding that it was aimed at pulling people into a support role for the sponsoring organization.
On the other hand, to my surprise, the sponsoring organization didn't make a very strong push for support from the audience. So, I left the theater with the thought that life is really, really hard for women in many countries. That's a point worth making, but then what?
We saw the movie in a theater, but it will work well on DVD.
