Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.

It’s as old as humanity, directly experienced by more than half the population, and indirectly by the rest; is crucial to our existence as a species. And yet it’s treated as a dirty and shameful taboo. It’s omnipresent yet never mentioned in public.

I’m talking about menstruation. And because we never talk about it, women and girls suffer social discrimination and economic hardship, at work and at home, in schools and in prisons. Isn’t it time we open this Pandora’s Box?

Pandora’s Box: Lifting the Lid on Menstruation is a new documentary that delves into its history and culture, and looks at human rights advocates around the world — in India, Kenya, North America and Europe — who are trying to normalize periods and to make them affordable, safe and accessible.  It’s written and directed by Rebecca Snow, an award-winning Canadian filmmaker who specializes in social issue documentaries.

Pandora’s Box premiers on Monday, March 8th, International Women’s Day.

I spoke with Rebecca Snow in Toronto, via ZOOM. (Some of the dialogue is inaudible, due to technical difficulties.)