Link2US

by Manjushree Thapa

Suma Tharu Kathmandu Nepal Production Trip
(Copyright:Ten Times Ten LLC)

I’m a citizen of Nepal living in Canada, but I went through high school and college, and even graduate school as a Fulbright scholar, in the United States. I’m always pleased for occasions that bring these three countries together.

Such an occasion arose when the U.S. Embassy to Canada invited me to be part of a team to introduce Girl Rising to Ottawa on April 22.

The team consisted of the film’s producer Kayce Freed Jennings, director Richard Robbins, and two writers: Maaza Mengiste and me.

The Embassy put together a busy, stimulating program. In the morning of the 22nd the team went to the Canterbury School to talk to two classes. The students watched the Ethiopia and Nepal chapters of Girl Rising, and heard about the making of these and the remaining seven chapters.

The students were, themselves, of a creative bent; their questions focused on methodology and technique. They were also from diverse cultural backgrounds. Many of the girls were palpably stirred. They asked Maaza and me about Azmera and Suma, the girls whom we had written about for the film. They were also curious about how Richard managed to stitch together nine stories from nine different countries – written by nine very different authors – into a coherent whole.

I got a special treat at mid-day, when I found myself seated next to Sharon Johnston, the wife of Canada’s Governor General David Johnston, at a luncheon hosted by Ambassador and Mrs. Jacobson. Warm and personable and keenly intelligent, Mrs. Johnston talked about a novel she’s writing, her first, set in Alberta during the first World War. Before long we were discussing our research and writing processes – a subject of perennial fascination to writers.

Manju Thapa at the Girl Rising screening in Ottawa with the Ambassador and Mrs. Jacobson, director Richard Robinson and others. (Credit: US Embassy Ottawa

That evening, Mrs. Johnston, Ambassador and Mrs. Jacobson, and many other figures of prominence came to watch the screening of Girl Rising at the National Gallery of Canada. (Later, I learned that the Canadian historian and author Charlotte Gray was in the audience – alas, I didn’t run into her in the crowd.) The 400-capacity hall was packed, and many audience members stayed on afterwards to listen to us talk about the film, and to ask questions.

Some of the more heartfelt responses came from adolescent girls and young women: some asked for advice (on writing and activism), and others offered us advice. One girl – a budding activist – told us that while it was good that we had made such a fine film, we should do more to end the inequality that girls experience around the world. Another girl asked whether we thought it was necessary for writers to write socially and politically, to expose injustice through their work.

This question interested me, as I have learned from experience to balance my own attraction to socially and politically ‘engaged writing’ against the difficulty of doing so effectively. Too often, engaged writing can be heavy-handed and didactic. It can lecture rather than reveal, and tell rather than show.

Manju Thapa (left) and Maaza Mengiste. (Credit: US Embassy Ottawa)

When I first watched Girl Rising (about a month before Ottawa), I was struck that the other writers had also portrayed the girls in their stories as unique and irreplaceable. I believe this is what makes the film so special. The universal speaks to us through the particular. The film touches viewers because, despite all the differences, they come to understand, and empathize with, nine very remarkable girls.

This issue came up after the screening in a conversation between me and Maaza. It also came up the following morning, during our final screening and talk at the École Secondaire Publique De La Salle. I was just as interested as the students were to hear Richard’s anecdotes about the ups and downs – and challenges – of filming and editing the nine chapters. I left Ottawa filled with thoughts, ideas, questions, emotions – and inspiration.