Fistula Films

Dry is a Nigerian film directed by actress and activist Stephanie Linus which follows main character Zara and  her constant turmoil as a result of horrors from her childhood, her experiences and heartaches living with obstetric fistula, and connections with fellow survivors and the ties that bind them together. It is now available to stream on Amazon Prime.

A Walk to Beautiful tells the stories of five Ethiopian women who suffer from devastating childbirth injuries and embark on a journey to reclaim their lost dignity. Rejected by their husbands and ostracized by their communities, these women are left to spend the rest of their lives in loneliness and shame. They make the choice to take the long and arduous journey to the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in search of a cure and a new life. A Walk to Beautiful won the 2009 Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Information Programming – Long Form.

Learn From My Story: Women Confront Fistula in Rural Uganda is a series of testimonials from women who have experienced obstetric fistula and wanted to share their stories in their own words, using their own photographs and drawings.  Eleven “digital stories” recount hardships and celebrate achievements related to the women’s daily struggles with pregnancy, loss, and relationships, as well as their search for safety, acceptance, and dignity. Learn From My Story
Lumo is a feature-length documentary film set in the HEAL Africa hospital in eastern Congo, where it follows a young Congolese woman on an uncertain road to recovery from rape. Lumo Movie Poster
Love, Labor, Loss is a documentary film and community organizing campaign that originated in 2003. The film is unique in its ability to create opportunities for individuals to take compelling stories of women in Niger living with obstetric fistula and – in their own manner, using their own creative impulses – turn it into a nationwide, grassroots phenomenon to join in solidarity with the women who continuously struggle with an injury that no woman should have to endure.  lovelabor
PBS’s FRONTLINE/World recently published a video by Jenny Chu—Sierra Leone: Yeabu’s Homecoming—about obstetric fistula in Sierra Leone. The 14-minute video focuses in part on Mercy Ships, one of EngenderHealth’s Fistula Care partners. yeabu