Handa: A short feature film on a young girl's unconscious descent to puberty

• Main Authors: Banico, Raphael Gerard, Torre, Valerie Hannah, Venturina, Chloie
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2017
• Subjects: Menarche > Drama; Puberty > Drama; Adolescence > Drama; Teenage girls > Psychology > Drama
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/8332
• Institution: De La Salle University

The menarche, or more commonly known as a woman's first period, is an important part of the life cycle of a female. It is a signifier that a girl is in the stage of her life where she would begin to transcend into an adult. Although this may bring joy to some children who see it as a right of passage, some may look at it in fear and confusion. These ill feelings about the menarche may hail from different causes, such as the lack of a mother figure at the household, or poor sex education in school. Handa is a short feature which aims to tackle on the negative reactions of young women towards their menarche, and to take it to the next level. The film depicts a day in the life of Rose as she experiences her first period. Being uninformed of the situation, and losing her mother at an early age, combined with the wild imagination kids have, Rose comes to the conclusion that her end is near. With this in mind, she would do something that any independent, and imaginative kid would do at her age, to prepare her own funeral.