Netflix launch Because She Watched collection for International Women’s Day

The collection celebrates the power of storytelling this International Women’s Day.

Netflix and UN Women have teamed up to launch Because She Watched, a special Netflix collection of series, documentaries, and films to celebrate International Women’s Day. The collection, which will be available all year, is curated by female creators from behind and in front of the camera, including Sophia Loren, Janet Mock, Salma Hayek, Yalitza Aparicio, Millie Bobby Brown, Laurie Nunn, Lana Condor, Petra Costa and Ava DuVernay. “This collaboration is about taking on the challenge of telling women’s stories and showing women in all their diversity. It's about making visible the invisible, and proving that only by fully representing and including women on screen, behind-the-camera and in our narratives overall, society will truly flourish,” Anita Bhatia, UN Women Deputy Executive Director, said. The official theme of this year's International Women's Day is I am Generation Equality: Realising Women’s Rights - and the collection celebrates the stories that have inspired the women who inspire us. These series, films and documentaries - Unbelievable and Followers to Orange Is the New Black, Lionheart and Sex Education - have started important, often hard, conversations that have helped to challenge the way we see the world. “Having a world where everyone is truly represented is about true democracy. And truly seeing ourselves allows us to envision endless possibilities for ourselves and each other”, actress Laverne Cox said. “Orange Is the New Black is the first project where I felt genuinely empowered as a woman thanks to the woman at the helm of the show, Jenji Kohan, and the many women directors, writers, producers, and crew members as well as the stories that centred diverse women in an unprecedented way. This show created a space and platform for me as a black openly trans woman that created space for other openly trans women of all races to be truly seen in the depth of our humanity”. The collection is available at Netflix.com/BecauseSheWatched - or by searching Because She Watched on Netflix. Every title in the collection will be labelled “XXXX’s Women’s Day Pick” so members can easily see who picked which story. In addition, Netflix users will be able to choose from a selection of Because She Watched profile icons to celebrate their favourite female characters from the collection. “TV and film have the power to reflect and shape popular culture, which is why we believe it's so important that more people see their lives reflected in storytelling”, said Dr. Stacy L. Smith, Founder of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. “Our research has shown that inclusion behind the camera leads to greater inclusion on screen. We're encouraged that last year, 20% of the directors of Netflix original films were women and we are excited to celebrate these female creators on International Women's Day. "There's still more to do to reach equality, but by recognizing female talent from around the world, we hope more women will feel encouraged to tell their stories, pushing that number even higher.” UN Women and Netflix’s partnership in support of the  Generation Equality campaign comes on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, recognized as a visionary agenda for women's rights. We hope that it will spread the message that realizing women’s rights means putting women front and centre to achieve gender equality. You can find the full collection and its curators below: Alejandra Azcárate  (Colombia) - Vis a Vis Alice Wu  (United States) - Frances Ha Andrea Barata Ribeiro  (Brazil) - Sex Education Anna Winger  (Germany) - Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Ava DuVernay  (United States) - A Wrinkle in Time Barbara Lopez  (Mexico) - Scandal  Beren Saat  (Turkey) - Bird Box Bruna Mascarenhas  (Brazil) - Quien Te Cantará Cecilia Suárez  (Mexico) -  Marriage Story Chris Nee  (United States) - Orange is the New Black Christian Serratos  (United States) - The Goop Lab  Cindy Bishop  (Thailand) - Anne with an E Elena Fortes  (Mexico) - Atlantique  Esther Acebo  (Spain) - Chef's Table: Bo Songvisava  Fadily Camara  (France) - How to Get Away with Murder Fanny Herrero  (France) - Je Parle Toute Seule Fatimah Abu Bakar  (Malaysia) - Babies Francesca Comencini  (Italy) - What Happened, Miss Simone? Giovanna Ewbank  (Brazil) - The Most Beautiful Thing Hanna Ardéhn  (Sweden) - Silence of the Lambs Hazar Erguclu  (Turkey) - House of Cards Hend Sabry  (Egypt) - Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold Ida Elise Broch  (Norway) - RuPaul's Drag Race Janet Mock  (United States) - Paris Is Burning Joyce Cheng  (Hong Kong) - Queer Eye Juliana Vicente  (Brazil) - When They See Us Kemi Adetiba  (Nigeria) - King of Boys  Kiara Advani  (India) - Lust Stories Lali Espósito  (Argentina) - Notting Hill Lana Condor  (United States) - Grace and Frankie Lauren Morelli  (United States) - Julie & Julia Laurie Nunn  (England) - The Keepers Laverne Cox  (United States) - A Call to Courage Liz Garbus  (United States) - She's Gotta Have It Logan Browning  (United States) - Someone Great  Lynn Fainchtein  (Mexico) - 2001: Space Odyssey Marcela Benjumea  (Colombia) - Dead to Me Mercedes Morán  (Argentina) - Aquarius Mika Ninagawa  (Japan) - In the Realm of the Senses Millie Bobby Brown  (United Kingdom) - Miss Americana Mina El Hammani  (Spain) - ¿Qué Co#o Está Pasando? Mindy Kaling  (United States) - Chewing Gum Mira Lesmana  (Indonesia) - ROMA Mithila Palkar  (India) - Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette Nahnatchka Khan (United States) - Young Adult Ngô Thanh Vân  (Vietnam) - Wonder Woman Nosipho Dumisa  (South Africa) - Gravity  Pathy Dejesus  (Brazil) - Raising Dion Paulina Garcia  (Chile) - Deux Jours, Une Nuit Petra Costa  (Brazil) - Feminists: What Were They Thinking? Salma Hayek  (Mexico) - Unbelievable Sandi Tan  (Singapore) - Russian Doll Shefali Shah  (India) - Delhi Crime Sophia Loren  (Italy) - The Crown Yalitza Aparicio  (Mexico) - Knock Down the House