In the world today, there are more than seven billion people and about half of them are girls. This is the only statistic about girls that represents any equality to those about boys. The tragic reality for millions of girls in the developing world is one that does not include an education. Their reality is one of poverty, sexual assault, childhood marriage, and disease. This heartbreaking truth is brought to light beautifully in Richard E. Robbin's "Girl Rising." "Girl Rising" inspires its audiences to take action in the worldwide movement for girl's education through its depiction of Bill Nichol's performative mode of documentary filmmaking, exemplary ethics, and exploration of the key elements of voice.
"Girl Rising" is the collection of nine different stories about nine incredible girls from all around the world. Each girl was paired with a writer from their home country to help them better tell their story. Nine different notable celebrities narrate each of the stories. The stories are split into nine different sections and are sewn together by intervals of facts and statistics presented in incredibly unique ways. From the moment the film begins, the viewer is captivated by the voice of "Girl Rising." This film incorporates many distinctive elements into its voice to create an unprecedented collection of narration, visuals and music. The audience meets the nine girls at the beginning of the film: Sokha from Cambodia, Wadley from Haiti, Suma from Nepal, Yasmin from Egypt, Asmera from Ethiopia, Ruksana from India, Senna from Peru, Mariama from Sierra Leone and Amina from Afganistan. All of the stories are re-enacted by the girls they are about, with the exception of two girls, Yasmin and Amina, who could not appear in the film for safety reasons. The girls were paired with writers from their home countries to help bring their stories to life and well-known women celebrities, in some cases women from the girl's home countries, provide narration for the girl's stories.