In October 2015, the GIRLWITHABOOK Team set off on an ambitious adventure to capture the stories of girls and women and their experiences with education in South and Central Asia. What began as simple inquiries into the education landscape of each country quickly developed into a broader discussion about what it means to be a girl in Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, India, and Nepal. Now with hours and hours of footage from each country, the GIRLWITHABOOK Team is working to produce a 4-episode documentary series called Being A Girl. 

HOW THIS IS HAPPENING:

In March 2015, the GIRLWITHABOOK Team conducted a Kickstarter campaign to fund the costs of production and travel for this ambitious project. Over the course of 30 days, 253 amazing people came together, decided to believe in us, and donated a total of $40,961.

Upon returning from the trip, GIRLWITHABOOK decided to apply for the Kickstart Diversity Program run by a film and media incubator called Big Vision Empty Wallet. This program is about supporting and helping underrepresented creators (such as women, people of color, the LGBT community, etc.) to connect with different distributors in the film and TV industry. In June 2016, GIRLWITHABOOK was accepted and as part of this program, Lena and Olivia attended their Distribution Lab in New York City, where they got to meet with other creators and network with representatives from various studios and distribution companies.

This project would not be possible without the help of the following partners and Kickstarter donors:

How we celebrated when we got funded on Kickstarter

Below are the names of the 253 wonderful individuals who backed this project.

PLATINUM

Jean Ciochon -- Naila Shareef -- Dorlinda Curl -- Abigail Ring -- Seemant Menon -- Venkata Kaushik Nunna Jeff Curl -- Syed Qaisar Shareef --  Gerry Johnson -- Annette & Mahmood A. Hai -- Jeff Davis -- Lee Olson & Beth Dolos

GOLD

Shawn Gregg -- Sarwar Shareef -- Katherine Goodman -- Blaine Werner

SILVER

Marisa Baskin -- Greg Rikhoff -- Amjad Noorani -- Yusuf Hai -- Kendall Lawless -- Jessica Schabtach -- SC -- Natalie Green -- Farooq Cheema -- Anwar Shareef -- Gunseli Shareef

BRONZE

Dwayne and Debbie Bellow & Family -- Brian Trueblood -- Sepideah Mohsenian-Rahman -- Cara Lockwood Caroline Cummings -- Samantha Hodgkins -- Alison Clement -- Kathryn Olney -- Desiree Maruca -- Saman Malik -- Craig Wiebe -- Mr. & Mrs. Richard Weir -- Michelle Winetrout -- Christian Watchie -- Pettingill-Stuckmeyer Family -- Gassime Diaoune -- Anum Khan -- Andrew Mitrak -- Rebecca & Rich Valentino -- Ellen Chamberlain -- Mary Sloper -- Ellen Teninty -- Linda Tomassi -- Shela Qamer -- Patricia Mulcahy

OTHER BACKERS

Noah Henry-Darwish -- Rose Rosa -- Eugene Oregon PEO Sisterhood -- Charlotte -- Sabina Shareef -- Joyce Berman & Dan Carol -- Karen Hyatt -- Zaba -- David & Vina Freitas -- Rebecca Hammons -- Leslie -- Aimee Jones-Suematsu -- Patricia Baker -- Ellen Wang -- Mary Finch -- Estelle Disch Camille Ronzio -- Hasan Ibrahim -- Phoebe Yu -- Alison Hohengarten -- Annette Konoske-Graf -- Robert S. King -- Aparna Alluri -- Deon Saraceno -- Mary Jo Huisman -- Gayle -- Tulio Braga --  Cheri Hubbard -- Jennifer Ard -- Karla Snell -- Harriet Behm -- Jessica Land -- Nareman Amin -- Alex Tinker -- Usha Sarvarayalu -- Melissa -- Muhammad Aslam -- Kathleen Dailey -- Kellie Kreitzberg -- Jawaid Haider -- Nigar Husain -- Liz -- Laura Peterle -- Daria Landal -- Gabriela Martinez -- Thomas Neumann -- Sky Sobol -- Sebastian Fagan -- John & Joan Bissell -- Karen Kelsky -- Anice Thigpen -- Cecile Blumm -- Kate Qualmann -- Dominic Martell -- Joyce -- Ina Baskin -- Qasim Mueen -- Sana Waheed -- Rhett Lawerence -- Sherri Seidmon -- Ryan Schoonmaker -- Jayne LeFors -- Manon Verchot -- Martin Tscheuschler -- Susan Powell -- Omar Massoud Asfar -- Carolyn Moore -- Barbara Kwong -- Synda Daoud -- Pippa Budge -- Lynda Weinhold -- Keerthi -- Cathy Dombi -- Eleanor Stanford -- Julia Kasiah -- Rita Radostitz -- Azam Zafar -- Melanie Namkoong -- Megan Madeira -- Catherine Squire -- Sandra Bonilla -- Erin & Ben Moore -- Brian Kuzma -- Aftab A. Siddiqui -- Liriel Higa -- Tom Pompei -- Chelsea Jennings -- Donny Brooks -- Sarah Smith -- Aminata Seck --Tasha Turner Lennhoff -- Kristine Deveza -- Marcia Walsh -- K L Groves -- Sandra Martin -- Anne McGann -- Michael & Liz -Randa Emam -- Mollie Book -- Anjuli Gidwani -- Mary Jones -- Pierre Bienaime -- Adriana Ganci -- Cathryn Liu -- Lisa Malykhina -- Thomas Sylwester -- Natasha Turak -- Yusra Suedi -- Ahsen Saber -- Hannah Suh -- Syed Rizwan Shareef -- Lynne Given -- Alissa Vermeulen -- Erika Bisbocci -- Caroline Sell -- Kati Duffy -- Katie -- Ashlee Thomas -- Sarah Jarecki -- David Nguyen -- Sara Qamar -- Yuko -- Rachael Palmer -- Dimitri Vassilaros -- Emma Durham -- Abbas Valliani -- Kira -- Michelle Klein -- Hilary Schulte -- Leslie Pelinka -- Kathy Yates -- Marilyn Curtis -- Morgan Jun -- Aman Shareef -- Ashley Butler -- Keely Murphy -- Ruby McConnell -- Jeremy Fryd -- Ashley Whittington -- Eva Miller -- Ashley Henry -- Rubina Hyder -- Ken Marshall -- Kathryn Boughton -- Esme Tristram -- Janet Range -- Tim & Judy Volem -- Jinx Faulkner -- David Levesley -- Dharambir Priyamvada -- Sobia Nasir -- Claudia Bazdoaca            -- Amanda Bonilla -- Theresa Bruskin -- Natalie -- Sophie Coates -- Mary Rogan -- Ariel Wendy Rawlinson -- Becca Lamb -- Lynn -- Guleed Ali -- Benedetta Riva -- Wendy Siri -- Kaia -- Muhammad Arif -- Amber Jamieson -- Ingrid Brubaker -- Alex McConnell -- Danielle -- Musa Ghani -- Stephen Tryon -- Saqib Rizavi -- Therese Picado -- Margaret Laneri -- Terrie Newton-Monroe -- Virginia Murphy -- Nausheen Rajan -- Michele Cohan -- Joanne Heidel -- Kerry Kai -- Hanaleigh -- Bilal Saeed -- Sharon M. -- Katya Kazbek -- Kausar Sajjad -- Albert Lee