Film Review – WE WILL RISE, The Realities of Life

Cleo E. Brown

WE WILL RISE airs on CNN International in Africa, Asia and Europe at 6am, 12pm & 3pm on October 11th, 2016 which is The International Day of The Girl. The CNN/US Premiere of WE WILL RISE will be on October 12th at 9pm. There will be an encore performance of the documentary on Thursday, October 13th at 12am. The film will debut on HLN on Saturday, October 15th at 12pm. All times are Eastern Standard. In the film, First Lady Michelle Obama, actresses Meryl Streep and Freida Pinto, and CNN Journalist Isha Sesay travel to Liberia and Morocco, where they address the importance of education for women (girls) in these nations. Grammy-nominated R&B singer Andra Day sings the powerful theme song “Rise Up” throughout the documentary.

While at times WE WILL RISE takes on a paternalistic tone, and fails to delve deeper into the sexual exploitation of females in these nations, or address – specific laws – in those nations with regards to making education accessible to all (regardless of sex); it nevertheless succeeds in emphasizing the importance of education. Currently, there are 62 million women in the world who remain undereducated.

After seeing the film, I would recommend it to children between the ages of ten and eighteen as an inspirational tool through which they may pursue education. The idealistic stories of the women interviewed will motivate children throughout the world to want more for themselves. The film is directed by Tony Gerber as well as produced by Gerber, Martha Adams and Beth Osisek. Courtney Sexton is supervising producer while Executive Producers are Amy Emteils and Tom Yellin. On a scale of from one thru ten I rate WE WILL RISE a seven.

The CNN/US Premiere of WE WILL RISE will be on October 12th at 9pm.

WE WILL RISE will air on CNN en Espanol on Saturday, November 5th, 2016.

Girls will ‘Rise Up’ with First Lady Michelle Obama, Meryl Streep, Freida Pinto, Andra Day, Isha Sesay and CNN Films for October