''Girl Rising'' is a 2013

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

produced by Kayce Freed,

Tom Yellin Tom Yellin (born 1953) is an American television and film producer. He has mostly worked on various television films and documentaries. Biography Born in 1953, Yellin started his career as a producer at ABC News. He produced various news shows a ...

and

Holly Gordon ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

at The Documentary Group, in partnership with Paul G. Allen and

Jody Allen Jo Lynn "Jody" Allen (born February 3, 1959) is an American businesswoman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. She is the sister of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and served as the chief executive officer of his investment and project manageme ...

Vulcan Productions Vulcan Productions produced documentary films, television programming and virtual reality experiences that drove awareness around environmental and social issues. The company was founded in 1997 by late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and his si ...

. It was directed by

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nominee

Richard E. Robbins Richard E. Robbins is an American filmmaker and documentary maker, who has produced and directed several documentaries for ABC and PBS. The most notable is '' Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience'', which puts forward the perspect ...

and features narration by

Anne Hathaway Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award, she was among the world's highest-paid actresses in 2 ...

Cate Blanchett Catherine Elise Blanchett (; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor. Regarded as one of the finest performers of her generation, she is known for her versatile work across independent films, blockbusters, and the stage. She has received n ...

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American singer, actress and producer. Gomez began her acting career on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004). As a teenager, she rose to prominence for starring a ...

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on '' Th ...

Sushmita Sen Sushmita Sen (born 19 November 1975) is an Indian actress, model and the winner of the Miss Universe 1994 pageant. She is the first Indian to win the Miss Universe pageant. She was previously crowned Femina Miss India 1994 at the age of 18. A ...

Priyanka Chopra Priyanka Chopra Jonas (; ; born 18 July 1982) is an Indian actress and producer. The winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant, Chopra is one of India's highest-paid actresses and has received numerous accolades, including two National Film Awar ...

Chloë Grace Moretz Chloë Grace Moretz (; born February 10, 1997) is an American actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including four MTV Movie & TV Awards, two People's Choice Awards, two Saturn Awards, and two Young Artist Awards. She began acti ...

Freida Pinto Freida Selena Pinto (born 18 October 1984) is an Indian actress who has appeared mainly in American and British films. Born and raised in Mumbai, Maharashtra, she resolved at a young age to become an actress. As a student at St. Xavier's Col ...

, Salma Hayek,

Meryl Streep Mary Louise Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as "the best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throu ...

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

and

Kerry Washington Kerry Marisa Washington (born January 31, 1977) SidebarCertificate of Live Birth: Isabelle Amarachi Asomugha(County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health). Gives Kerry Washington birth dateArchivedfrom the original on May 2, 2016.Note: Fi ...

. The movie tells the stories of nine girls from nine countries: (

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

and

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...

). Each girl had her story written by a writer from her country and voiced by renowned actors. Their stories reflect their struggles to overcome societal or cultural barriers. The writers are

Loung Ung Loung Ung ( km, អ៊ឹង លួង; born 19 November 1970) is a Cambodian American human-rights activist, lecturer and national spokesperson for the Campaign for a Landmine-Free World, between 1997 and 2003. She has served in the same capaci ...

(Cambodia), Edwidge Danticat (Haiti),

Manjushree Thapa Manjushree Thapa (born 1968 in Kathmandu) is a Nepalese–born Canadian essayist, fiction writer, translator and editor. She is one of the first English writer of Nepali descent to be published internationally. '' Forget Kathmandu'' and '' The T ...

(Nepal),

Mona Eltahawy Mona Eltahawy ( ar, منى الطحاوى, ; born August 1, 1967) is a freelance Egyptian-American journalist and social commentator based in New York City. She has written essays and op-eds for publications worldwide on Egypt and the Islamic wor ...

(Egypt),

Maaza Mengiste Maaza Mengiste (born 1974) is an Ethiopian-American writer. Her novels include ''Beneath the Lion's Gaze'' (2010) and '' The Shadow King'' (2019), which was shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize. Early life Mengiste was born in Addis Ababa, Ethi ...

(Ethiopia), Sooni Taraporevala (India), Maria Arana (Peru), Aminatta Forna (Sierra Leone), Zarghuna Kargar (Afghanistan). The girls' names are Sokha (Cambodia), Wadley (Haiti), Suma (Nepal), Yasmin (Egypt), Azmera (Ethiopia), Ruksana (India), Senna (Peru), Mariama (Sierra Leone) and Amina (Afghanistan).

References

External links

* * * 2013 films Year of work missing 2013 documentary films CNN Films films Vulcan Productions films Films scored by Lorne Balfe Films scored by Rachel Portman 2010s American films {{2010s-documentary-film-stub