Private Project

Ours to Tell

Without shame and without fear "Ours to Tell" depicts four people who share their stories and walk in their truth. By owning the lives they choose, what unfolds is an unfiltered and poetic demonstration of how the right to access abortion acts as a dynamic turning point in an individual's journey to freedom and self love. Each with different perspectives and experiences, the film's subjects — Brittany, Hannah, Nick and Ylonda — take us inside their worlds, their families, their souls and boldly illustrate the beauty and power of bodily autonomy. As we watch, listen and love each storyteller, we also bear witness to a chilling reality: The fundamental freedom to own our body and future has never been more uncertain than it is today.

  • Rayka Zehtabchi
    Director
    Period. End of Sentence.
  • Natasha Wellesley
    Executive Producer
  • Elizabeth Bawol
    Executive Producer
  • Renee Bracey Sherman
    Executive Producer
  • Lauren Garcimonde-Fisher
    Executive Producer
  • Ylonda Gault
    Executive Producer
  • Rachel Moreno
    Executive Producer
  • Rachel Velasquez
    Producer
  • Tina Pavlides
    Producer
  • Rachel Main
    Producer
  • Dana Kurth
    Producer
  • Nia Martin-Robinson
    Director of Black Leadership and Engagement
  • Caren Spruch
    Senior Director, Arts and Entertainment
  • Zoe Schack
    Editor
  • Brittany
    Key Cast
  • Hannah
    Key Cast
  • Nick
    Key Cast
  • Ylonda
    Key Cast
  • Planned Parenthood
    In Partnership with
  • We Testify
    In Partnership with
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Genres:
    Social Impact, Storytelling, LGBTQ, Women's Issues, Healthcare
  • Runtime:
    17 minutes 15 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 20, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    340,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • NYC Premiere Event, hosted by Planned Parenthood Federation of America and We Testify
    New York
    United States
    January 22, 2020
    NYC Premiere
  • Sundance Film Festival, as part of a Planned Parenthood "Storytelling as Activism" panel discussion
    Park City
    United States
    January 28, 2020
Director Biography - Rayka Zehtabchi

Rayka Zehtabchi is a 25-year-old Oscar winning Iranian-American director based in Los Angeles. Her directorial debut, Madaran, is an Iranian language short that won Jury awards at top film festivals and qualified for the 89th Academy Awards in 2016.

Rayka’s Oscar winning short documentary, Period. End of Sentence. can be seen on Netflix worldwide, and is about a group of village women in Northern India who start a sanitary pad-making business in an effort to improve feminine hygiene and de-stigmatize menstruation. Along with the film’s release, Rayka helped co-found the non-profit “The Pad Project” to fight the stigma of menstruation and improve feminine hygiene worldwide.

Future projects include a short documentary on the Special Olympics, a narrative feature film based on her family’s experience immigrating from Iran to the United States in the 1990s, as well as a feature documentary further expanding on the topic of menstruation worldwide.

Rayka’s passion is telling human stories that bring awareness and action to little-known social causes. In both documentary and narrative, she brings a naturalistic approach to her storytelling, striving for honesty and intimacy on screen.

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