US/UK | Animation & Live Action Documentary | 2023 | English Dialogue
About
Based on a true story, Dewmini was born in 2008 and has been a student of Room To Read’s Girls’ Education Program in Sri Lanka since 2019. Climate change has caused extreme drought and food shortages in Sri Lanka. When Dewmini’s family tried to pull her out of school and send her away to work, she taught herself to garden, discovered a passion for climate advocacy, and transformed her family’s future.
This stop-motion animated short was written and directed by me, commissioned by Room To Read. It is part of the She Creates Change series, which is a series of six animated shorts with accompanying live action mini documentaries that feature the narratives of six courageous young women. All six stories from the She Creates Change film series premiered on Warner Bros. Discovery Channel across Asia on March 8, 2024, in celebration of the International Women’s Day.
The Live Action part of the production credit goes to Series Director Martha Adams and the team at Room to Read.
Credit
written & directed by SIQI SONG
voice by FREIDA PINTO, PRAJAKTA KOLI, ADHIR KALYAN
series Directed by MARTHA ADAMS
executive producers BRENDA CHAPMAN, JILL CULTON
animation produced by NEXUS STUDIOS
JULIA PARFITT, ELECTRA FOTOPOULOU, REBECCA ARCHER, JO BIERTON
character design & storyboard by YAOU CHEN
set design by OLGA SOKAL, CALLUM STRACHAN,
Cinematography by BEN JONES
vfx by GERMÁN DÍEZ BALANZA
edit by DAVE SLADE
stop motion animation produced by SECOND HOME STUDIOS
studio director CHRIS RANDALL
animation by JESSICA MEHLER, ZOË HUTBER, JAMES WILKINSON, STEVE LAWSON, IAN WHITTLE, SIM MARRIOTT
sound produced by Brain Audio
music by LUCIE TREACHER
sound designer by INES ADRIANA
color by DUNCAN RUSSELL
Behind The Scenes
PRESS
About she creates change
She Creates Change is a multi-media storytelling initiative from non-profit Room to Read — spanning an award-winning animated and live-action film, illustrated books and compelling audio stories. The project boldly aims to reach all 432 million adolescent girls (ages 12–18) around the world with educational content and curriculum that promotes gender equality and inspires change. Besides the film series, the initiative also provides free music, e-books, podcasts and lesson plan resources for adolescent girls education.
Room to Read was Founded in 2000, with a mission to nurture foundational learning skills in children. Their contextualized approach develops children’s literacy and life skills in a dignified and gender-equal way.
She Creates Change Film Series is a series of six animated shorts with accompanying live action mini documentaries that tells the true stories of Dewmini, Keya, Trang, Diksha, Yashika and Naifat, six courageous girls from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Nepal, India and Tanzania. Each confronts barriers to their education with foundational life skills learned through Room to Read’s gender equality programming — decision-making, leadership, critical thinking, collaboration and resilience. With the support of Room to Read, the girls use the power of their voices to advocate for change. All six stories from the She Creates Change film series premiered on Warner Bros. Discovery Channel across Asia on March 8, 2024, in celebration of the International Women’s Day. The full series is now available for free download in 6 languages on SheCreatesChange.Org.
Dewmini’s Story in Rebel Girls Books
There are 432 million adolescent girls in the world right now between the ages of 12 and 18. We can support all of them with educational and inspirational stories that give them the tools to create lasting change for themselves, their families and future generations.
With She Creates Change, Room to Read aims to do just that. Please visit SheCreatesChange.Org and Room To Read to get involved, donate, and share the girls’ stories!
