11 minutes
2013
Bangladesh/Sweden
Bengali with English or Swedish subtitles

Directed by award-winning Maud Nycander (Palme) & Iga Mikler
(Eating Lunch)

In co-operation with RFSU (the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education), ActionAid Sweden, SKR (Swedish Association of Women’s Shelters and Young Women’s Empowerment Centres) & The Swallows India Bangladesh.

Festivals & Forums Umeå International Short Film Festival. Uppsala International Short Film Festival. BUFF Film Festival – Best Films For Children & Young People. Flimmer Film Festival. LadyBug Festival. LUCAS Internationals Kinderfilmfestival. Brooklyn Girl Film Festival. Toronto International Children's Film Festival. DOXA. FemFilmFest. Socialistiskt Forum. Almedalen Week. Nordiskt Forum – New Action on Women’s Rights. United Nations Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI) Global Advisory Committee Meeting.

Go Straight Home

Reba is 14 and she lives with her family in Dhaka. Her family doesn’t belong to the poorest and not the rich. On her way to school she is often harassed by groups of boys who shout after her, and sometimes strange men will follow her, making her feel very uncomfortable. It’s part of everyday life in Bangladesh for young girls and women. In Reba’s school class four girls have already been forced to marry, and only one of the girls married out of love. Reba’s family might have to marry her off too if they can’t afford her education. Her mother wants her to continue her studies and get the education that wasn’t possible for herself. Reba wants that too. She loves going to school, but what she reads in the papers about acid attacks and women being raped on the streets scares her. Yet she won’t give up. When school is finished for the day Reba’s mum tells her to “look down, talk to no one and go straight home”.