Rovina’s Choice

A documentary film about a mother’s impossible choice at the intersection of war, hunger, and politics.

(Available for AMPAS voters in the Academy Screening Room portal.)

Through the plight of one woman trying to save her daughter from starvation, “Rovina’s Choice” traces the effects of Donald Trump’s executive order banning US foreign aid—made within hours of being sworn into office in January 2025. Rovina Naboi’s devastating story represents the global impact of that decision on the world’s most vulnerable populations, and how it stopped decades of progress combating severe malnutrition.

Rovina’s Village

She traveled 12km away from her home…

…through Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya…

…to Clinic 7 to get treatment for her ailing daughter.

Themes

The Global Impact of U.S. Policy

Within hours of taking office, the Trump administration signed an executive order halting U.S. foreign aid to organizations providing reproductive health services — a decision that rippled far beyond Washington. In countries like Kenya, those funds had been supporting critical malnutrition programs. When the aid stopped, clinics closed, shipments of therapeutic food dried up, and lives like Rovina’s were thrust into crisis.

Decades of Progress Reversed

For more than two decades, international partnerships steadily improved survival rates for children suffering from acute malnutrition. In some regions, the rate of recovery had climbed above 90%. Those gains represented one of global health’s quiet success stories. But the sudden withdrawal of U.S. funding reversed years of progress almost overnight, forcing clinics to shut down and leaving humanitarian teams to face a growing crisis with fewer resources and mounting loss.
Source: UNICEF / WHO Global Nutrition Report (2023)

The Personal as Global

Rovina’s story is singular, yet it echoes thousands of others. Her experience reveals how policy decisions made an ocean away can determine who eats, who survives, and whose stories reach the world.

Credits

Directors: Thomas Jennings, Annie Wong. Editor: Flávia De Souza. Executive Producers: Atul Gawande, Simon Kilmurry. Producer: Yiel Awat, Marcia Robiou. Director of Photography: Joan Poggio. Composer: Griffin Jennings. Additional Photography: Yiel Awat, Thomas Jennings, Wolfgang Held, Axel Baumann. Line Producer: Drucilla Lawrence. Co-Producer: Karina Meier. Post Production Supervisor: Julio Ramirez. Archival Producer: Brennan Rees. Graphics Producer & Designer: Reginald William Butler, ARE Creative Inc. Colorist: Steve Beganyi. Re-Recording Mixer: Rich Cutler. Digital Intermediate & Sound Facility: Blue Table Post. DI Producer: Oliver Lief. Publicity: Verdant Communications.

Contact

To get in touch with the filmmakers contact: hello@rovinaschoice.com.

For all media or press inquiries contact: press@rovinaschoice.com.