BRAVE GIRL RISING

ethiopia
AZMERA
RUHEEN, LEAH, AND JAD
Az m e r a ' s STORY

Azmera is a 13 year-old girl living in Yilmana Densa,

Ethiopia, with her widowed mother and older brother.
Azmera's brother aims to protect and provide for his family.
The elders of the village warned that Azmera would die like
her sister if she was not married soon. It was her mother's
way of giving her a better life.
When a man asked for Azmera's hand, her mother was
ready to say yes, but Azmera and brother refused the
marriage.
Azmera continued going to school, strengthing her voice
and moving forward.
global ISSUE

GLOBAL ISSUE: Child marriage is viewed as acceptable in order to provide

for young girls and their families

Main message conveyed: Girls deserve education and are capable of

providing for themselves, of living a better life without being married off.

Thesis statement: The form of the documentary is moderately successful in

conveying the message and fulfilling the purposes of the GR organization due
to the broad depiction of the benefits of education in unfamiliar
circumstances and a girl's ability to take agency in her life through the
relevant story, serene visuals and imaginative film techniques.
Overview
Purpose: To the local audience - depicting the benefits of refusing child marriage to get
a better education, as opposed to accepting and continuing the cyclical process

Audience: Western countries and locals of Ethiopia

Western - depict the commonality and severity of child marriage to elicit sympathy
and gain donations to fund the project
Ethiopian locals who uphold tradition and follow societal norms are presented with
another approach to their daughters' survivals.

Structure: This is the fifth chapter, after Yasmin's story of sexual assault. In terms of
content, the placement of Azmera's story is quite relevant as it discusses similar issues
of children being forced into unlawful situations, albeit Azmera's story has a better
outcome.
Language features
Icarus metaphor:
The pharse "man was not meant to fly" is a metaphor about Icarus, the boy who flew too close to
the Sun, that conveys the mythical world's limits in which his limits were that he dreamed big and
but his dreams were destroyed with him attemping to fly close to the Sun. We relate this
toAzmera's more grounded limits, referring to the restrictions she faces within her community that
make it impossible for her to speak for herself and make more out of her life. Her community
already seems to have planned out her life with the idea of marrying her off to a stranger.
Furthermore, her brother is compared to Icarus when the voice states that "he is not a myth". This
implies that their problems are real and not far-fecthed in the slightest. It's a way of conveying the
fact that this is their reality and that this is something that they have to deal with on a daily
occurrence in comparison to the Western audience. It's a manner of enlightening the audience.
The resolution of Azmera's story ends with reference to Icarus, in relation to education, "as you
open a book, you continue your journey forward and up" and Azmera will be "able to dream",
suggesting that while Icarus failed, Azmera still has the opportunity to succeed. The metaphor is
often repeated throughout this chapter, but the relevance isn't explained until the end where they
link it back to how education can free a girl, allowing her to dream ambitiously.
The Girl Rising organisation is able to push their agenda by stating that the girls can go further in life
by taking charge of their life and getting a proper education.
Language features
The narration makes it come off as a documentary, since there is very little fictionalization or reenactment, and
this is reinforced by the use of statistics in the beginning that talk about how many young girls are subject to
arranged, forced child marriages. The statistics used in the beginning are very relevant to her story because we
get to see how she is almost married off due to the culture and beliefs of her community, who believe that the
only way for a girl to survive is if she is married off, further accentuated by her mother's helplessness.
At the end, there is another scene in which there are young girls twisting boxes and the voice explaining how
forced child marriages lead to childbirth which is stated to be the highest reason for the deaths in most young
girls. This was followed by the mention of sexually transmited diseases. Moreover, the voice also mentions how
childbirth and overall arranged marriages are the root of the ending a girl's life. After a girl gets married, it
becomes more difficult for her to complete her education and hold a proper place in society becuase of how
her entire world now revolves around that marriage and children.
The turning of boxes while stating these facts displays the cyclical process of child marriage, especially in a
conservative and traditional community. It links back to the mention of child marriage throughout all
generations of Azmera's family: her grandmother was given away to man at a young age, and then her mother
faced the same. We see that is a constant loop that Azmera chose to break in order to provide herself with a
better life, despite it being the traditional norm. The audience can admire her courage, and may become
enlightened to the fact that situations like these are more of a common occurrence than they believed. For the
local audience, this may be an eye-opening possibility, as they see that their daughters have more than one
option to sustain themselves.
Visual features
The film has an initial documentary segment where the voiceover uses
statistics to express how many girls are forced into marriage every year.
The final visual matches the voice over - "13 young girls married in the last
30 seconds", and there are 13 girls in the frame. The girls are of all
different ages and races, displaying how child marriage affects all types
of girls. The visual aspect matching the narration amplifies the gravity of
the subject being discussed, as the audience can easily understand the
commonality of such circumstances. The relevance of the visual to the
story is also great, as it links back to another image in the narrative part
where Azmera is surrounded by other children of similar ages. There is a
surge in the sympathy evoked within the audience, as Girl Rising
introduces the topic of early child marriage, in a simple manner without
dramatizing the message.
 Visual features
A few times throughout the chapter, there is a visual of Azmera drawing
Icarus in school. She starts the drawing in the beginning of the chapter,
suggesting that she learnt about the myth while attending school. The visual
itself is rather peaceful and minimalistic, a simple image of a child drawing.
The image makes the story seem more personal to the audience, due to its
simplicity and the fact that a child drawing is a regular occurrence in people's
lives. The audience connect more to the story, realizing deeply that Azmera
is in fact just a child in an unfavorable situation. It allows for comparison
between Azmera and children in their own lives, thus causing them to
empathize further. For the drawing itself, it indicates that school is teaching
Azmera certain values that her community is surpressing - her ability to push
past her limits. The Western audience is likely to see the worth in supporting
Girl Rising's cause, intimating the film's success in conveying its message.
Film Techniques
This chapter frequently uses wide angle, long shots of the fields where Azmera walks in and
out of frame, as the camera remains stationary. These are mainly used when the narration is
solemn, for example when Azmera was about to be given to a stranger, and her brother found
out and together they said no, a wide shot of a grazing field was used. Instead of a
reenactment, the director chose to contrast the tension looming in Azmera's house to the
serenity of the world outside, although the aesthetic shots may distract the audience from
the narrative.
The static shot tends to focus on the nature surrounding Azmera's community, while she
appears to be much smaller. Although this may indicate her diminished stature and voice in
her community, it may also amplify her impact, as she is pictured to be alone and the diegetic
sounds of her walking make her the audience's sole focus - we are brought into the
environment.
The shots mirror the narration, in terms of Azmera's dreams of wanting more. The voiceover
often refers to Azmera being able to journey further as she learns more and dreams big, thus
the shots of the vast expanse of fields intimate that there is more out there waiting for her.
Film Techniques
The film makes use of close-up shots of Azmera to convey her young age and shy
personality. Her lack of eye-contact with the camera highlights her diminished stature in
her community - her inability to speak for herself. This is futher depicted by her
positioning, as she is standing on the left side of the frame, so as not to stand out. Her
off-centre position accentuates the tension of the story, especially when she is paired
with her brother and the narration relays their refusal of the marriage.
Her childlike demeanour is a reminder to the audience of her young age, as well as the
narrative where she is about to be married off. It reiterates the gravity of the situation, as
the audience is reminded of their own young family members.
Moreover, the intercutting of close-up shots and long shots of nature make for a rather
pleasing visual, as the audience is not bored with singular shots of Azmera and her family,
which can become redundant, despite their ability to express the personality of Azmera
and her family. Instead, we are presented with instances - the wide nature shots - where
we can reflect on narrative, further absorbing ourselves, as the audience, into Azmera's
story.
Conclusion
Therefore, the mentioned features of Girl Rising Ethiopia. Azmera's chapter, are
moderately successful in presenting the organization's intention to change the way girls
and their education are valued. The film does well in reflecting the narration through the
visuals, and making it appropriate for all types of audiences. Although the visuals could be
slightly distracting, the innovative use of film techinques allowed for the audience to
better absorb the story, which in itself evokes sympathy within the audience, and
hopefully, within the local audience, presents a new avenue for future female generations.
Azmera's story depicts education as a method of survival and independence, portraying
education and why it is desired in a different context. Thus, it elicits a greater
understanding of Girl Rising's purpose and efforts to overcome the lack of support for
girls being educated, as the audience can see how education can remove girls from an
array of unfortunate circumstances. Hence, this chapter of Girl Rising, to a moderate
extent, can be considered successful in conveying the organization's message and
purpose.
Thank You