This film from the Gates Foundation celebrates young activists who aren't waiting around to change the world

A new short film from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation tells the stories of three activists working to advance women’s rights and end poverty--and they're not waiting to grow old to do it. Directed by Natalie Rae as part of an effort by Project Everyone to promote the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, the moving narrative begins with the words of Saleha Khan, an 18-year-old in Mumbai, India who is being pressured by her father to take a husband. “At my age, you’re expected to marry,” she says. But Khan wants to pursue her studies, so she leads protests and works to destigmatize menstruation, which keeps many girls out of school. The film then shifts to Kenya, where Evans Wadongo, 34, is trying to bring solar power to rural areas, and then to 24-year-old Susan Mueni, who teaches girls in the slum district of Kibera to act with confidence to help them avoid abuse and rape. The film is from Object & Animal, which is also responsible for the Impossible Foods anthem. Rae previously directed the video for Leon Bridges’ “Bad Bad News.” The Gates Foundation video premiered at the Gates Foundation event Goalkeepers last week as an introduction for Melinda Gates’ keynote speech.

This film from the Gates Foundation celebrates young activists who aren't waiting around to change the world

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