‘Daga - A Woman’s Fight to Empower Girls in her Village’ has won the Eva Haller’s Women Transforming Media Award

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CONTACT:                                               
Wendy Milette
Director The MY HERO International Film Festival
[email protected]

‘Daga - A Woman’s Fight to Empower Girls in her Village’ has won the Eva Haller’s Women Transforming Media Award

DagaMY HERO 

Each year, Haller sponsors the Women Transforming Media Award (WTM) at The MY HERO International Film Festival. She established the award to inspire and support filmmakers whose work features women changemakers or women’s issues and has expanded the contest to include an award for students, from elementary school to college, as well as for professional filmmakers. 

The documentary ‘Daga - A Woman’s Fight to Empower Girls in her Village’ directed by Fama Ndiaye of Alarba Film, Executive Producers: Sky Dylan-Robbins & Gabriel Diamond, has won the Eva Haller’s Women Transforming Media Award (WTM) and The Women’s Rights Award at the 20^th MY HERO International Film Festival.

The film follows Daga Baldé from southern Senegal who is a local leader in her community and a passionate advocate for girls’ and women’s education. Denied the opportunity to complete her own education when she was a girl, Daga is now on a mission, with the support of Tostan, to ensure that children in her community can stay in school and have access to all the opportunities that she missed — and that they all have a right to have.

Tostan is a non-governmental organization founded in 1991 in Senegal, focuses on empowering African communities through its Community Empowerment Program (CEP). The program uses a holistic, human-rights-based approach to foster sustainable development, emphasizing local languages and community-led initiatives. Tostan’s initiatives span education, health, governance, and economic empowerment, leading communities toward ending harmful practices like child marriage and female genital cutting. Through partnerships and training, Tostan extends its model to a variety of leaders across eight African countries, promoting positive social change.

Tostan was founded by American anthropologist Molly Melching, who began her work in Senegal in the 1970s. Melching recognized the importance of community-led development and worked to establish an educational model grounded in local culture and languages. Tostan, meaning “breakthrough” in Wolof, was officially founded in 1991 to provide African communities with the tools for sustainable, self-driven progress. Melching’s work has been especially impactful in promoting human rights, health, and education, all while respecting and integrating local traditions.

Tostan’s flagship initiative, the Community Empowerment Program (CEP), is a three-year program that educates communities in local languages on human rights, health, literacy, and economic growth. The CEP operates primarily in rural areas across eight West African countries, including Senegal, Mali, and Guinea. Tostan also promotes Public Declaration campaigns, empowering communities to abandon harmful practices like female genital cutting and child marriage and supports economic initiatives through Dignity for All (DFA), which provides training in income-generating activities. The organization partners widely to replicate its model in diverse African communities.

‘Walk on My Own’ is a film by 13-year-old Ndèye Fatou Fall, which won a WTM Award at the MY HERO 18^th International Film Festival. Mentored by Emmy-winning filmmaker, Elizabeth Hummer, Ndèye Fatou's film takes us on the journey of a cultural shift that fundamentally changed the course of her life and those of her peers. We learn how the women of Keur Simbara and the surrounding villages were inspired by the teachings of Tostan and how they, with the help of their Imam, were able to change deeply entrenched social norms. Read more HERE. 

Tostan is a documentary produced by Cheikh Daru Seck, a headteacher in Senegal. 

Read this story about Molly Melching, founder of Tostan. "When people are educated, when they have the information they need, when they have human rights and they know their rights...when they are working together...I think we will see a huge change in the world." Molly Melching.

For more information visit: https://tostan.org

MY HERO Film Festival

MY HERO will be presenting the Awards at the 20th Anniversary MY HERO International Film Festival Awards Ceremony on November 16th, 2024 in Santa Monica at the Ann & Jerry Moss Theater at New Roads School, 3131 Olympic Blvd, Santa Monica, Ca. 90404.

Join MY HERO in celebrating 20 years of The MY HERO International Film Festival. Find out more here: festival-information