Recap: Girl Rising Screening

To get the word out, I used an e-vite made on punchbowl.com and a Facebook event initially. Of course we also had our Her Campus blog, event, and news article too. For the event, I first booked the space on campus. I chose a room that has stadium-like/fanning out seats and a large screen. There are 90 chairs in the room. Next, Lucy and I reached out to clubs that might be interested in helping us. The Women’s Center on campus funded the printing of the posters, which we used the template from the website for. The Office of Student Life let us borrow their popcorn machine, so we had fresh movie popcorn for the screening! Additionally, with the $50 donation from HerCampus, we went to BJ’s to buy the food/drinks for the event. We got a variety of candy and different bottled drinks.

 

We used a raffle-ticket system to ensure that everyone got the same amount of free food/drink. Each person who came got a ticket, which they then gave to some girls working at the table with the food. Each ticket was worth a piece of candy, a drink, and a bag of popcorn. This system worked out really well and we almost ran out of everything we bought. 

 

 

We opened the doors at 7pm and had the viewers mingle before the viewing started. I got red/yellow streamers and ballons to decorate the area outside the movie room and had music playing. People chatted and nibbled on their snacks while they were waiting. It was great to see professors, faculty members, and students interacting before the movie started.

 

Lucy and I introduced the movie at 7:35pm and started it promptly. The final total of attendees was around 45 so we were very pleased. At the end of the film, we encouraged viewers to discuss it and ask any questions they may have. I also recommended that they go to the movie’s website for more information- and to ours of course!

 

There was only positive feedback from the people who came to the event, and I had fun planning it. One staff member brought her granddaughter, who really enjoyed it and asked me for a poster at the end. 

 

“The event was really well put together, the food and drinks were fantastic!!! The film itself was beautiful, very thought-provoking and inspiring. To bring it onto campus and screen it free of charge allowed it to reach a greater number of students.” – Shannon Kelly ’13

 

“Girl Rising has a great message and it was, visually, very well done – the facts of the of the promise of girls education worldwide are powerful. However, the actual stories of the girls don’t resonate as much as the statistics: the film went through writers, narrators and actresses instead of actually documenting the real girls’ lives. As a viewer, I felt very far removed from the reality of their situations. I think actual documentary footage, showing interviews with the real girls, for example, would more powerfully relay Girl Rising’s message.” -Caeli Smith ’15

 

“High attendance at this student-organized screening of Girl Rising illustrated commitment to awareness of basic challenges like health, safety, and educational access that girls around the world (including the U.S.) continue to face. Refocus on the global issues of marginalization that regularly confront girls was particularly timely in light of the current New Delhi protests surrounding the handling of a young child’s abduction and rape.” -Carol Akai, Professor of Human Development

 

“This film gives girls around the world a wonderful opportunity to have their voices heard, while highlighting the immense power and utmost importance of the education of girls everywhere. This is an important message that needs to be spread as far and wide as possible!” – Emily Scribner ’13

 

“Not only were the stories of the individuals presented in ways that made the unimaginable appear right in front of you, but the statistics proved that there is hope for change among girls.” – Lulu Pajolek ’15