‘Smile Pinki’ takes Oscar; Surgery rid girl of stigma
February 23rd, 2009
From BBC, UK Times, People Magazine, Hindustan Times:
The story of an Indian girl whose cleft lip was repaired through surgery has won the Academy Award for best short documentary.
Directed by Megan Mylan, the film follows Pinki’s transformation from an introverted social outcast to an outgoing local celebrity after an operation funded by The Smile Train, an international charity organization that provides free surgery to children with cleft lips and palates.
Pinki, who attended the awards ceremony with her father and her surgeon, told People magazine that she had been shunned by children and townspeople in her rural village in India. Pinki’s birth had been a humiliation on her family, and villagers said her cleft lip was evidence of a curse.
Her father, Rajendra Sonkar, said he used to think it would have been better if his daughter had not been born. Now he hopes Pinki will grow up to be a flight attendant.
(Pinki with surgeon Subodh Kumar Singh, her father, and director Megan Mylan, AP photo from UK Times)
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on Monday, February 23rd, 2009 at 12:14 pm and is filed under cleft palate, discrimination, documentary, entertainment, personal stories, philanthropy, quality of life, stigma.
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