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To make her documentary "Escape," filmmaker Marvi Lacar left her homein New York City and traveled to Kenya to visit a safe house for Masaigirls. Those young girls are routinely married off to men sometimes fouror five times their age and are also subjected to female genitalmutilation.
The eight-, 10- and 12-year-old child brides are seeking shelter from the hellish lifestyle that was forced upon then.
"Emotionally, I don't think you are ever really prepared to see things like that happen to children," says Lacar.
The mutilated girls managed to work up the courage to runaway from their oppressive homes.
Lacar, who was born in the Philippines, says she wants her film to raise awareness and touch a nerve.
"Theywere essentially, despite everything they've been through, reallywell-spirited young girls. If anything, the one thing they kept sayingwas that they wanted to go to school," says the filmmaker.
Educationand freedom are more important to the girls that their mutilatedgenitals, according to Lacar. The ritual mutilation, which involves theremoval of the clitoris, is currently outlawed in Kenya but is stilltraditionally forced on girls.
"There was pressure from their peers because of the idea that you're not 'cleansed,' you're not pure," says Lacar.
The filmmaker has learned that Masai girls in Kenya have a pure heart and hopes to bring their plight to a global audience."
You can view the interview
here.
You can view the trailer
here.
