27/03/2024

Women's Place: 'Encouraging,' say IMPA students.

“For those of us who are starting out in this STEM field, it is very important to see and hear about the trajectory of all these women. It encourages us and makes us believe that everything will be alright, especially with the participation of Luna Lomonaco and Carolina Araujo, whom we see every day here at IMPA.” The account is from Ana Cristina Barreto, a student at the institute. The doctoral student was one of the students present at the screening of the documentary 'Lugar de Mulher – Os inexatos percursos femininos nas exatas', this Tuesday (26) at IMPA.

Running for 60 minutes, the production by Manuela Fantinato and Sylvio Rocha features testimonials from 40 women who pursued careers in STEM. Mathematicians, engineers, scientists, and technology professionals from different generations talk about the challenges faced in a field dominated by men. Luna and Carolina, researchers from IMPA, participated in the film.

“The documentary provides that little bit of motivation and inspiration that we sometimes need on ordinary days. We see that despite all the obstacles we encounter and will encounter along the way, it is possible to get there,” assessed master's student Marina Sayuri.

In addition to the film screening, Luna Lomonaco, Manuela Fantinato, Sylvio Rocha, and Cristina Pinho, a mechanical engineer and interviewee in the documentary, participated in a discussion about the importance of the production in building a more diverse society. “Our choice was to find common experiences in the voices of these women, to identify what was repeated. Our society loses, companies lose, the future loses, just as the past lost by not listening to diversity,” stated Manuela.

Before the film, Luna spoke about the feeling of distrust that accompanied her during her academic training and how she sees the same insecurity in her students. “I had students who, when they don't understand something, immediately think they're worthless. I rarely see boys with that attitude, and I know why. There's a persistent look of distrust directed at us. So, I was very happy with the documentary, because it's very important to speak out about these things. We don't have different brains. There's a social structure that leads us to believe that our mental structure is different, and that's not true.”

The screening of the documentary at IMPA is part of the activities for International Women's Day, celebrated on March 8th. The film, a co-production of Clarear Entretenimento and Tocha Filmes, premiered on November 27th at the Firjan Sesi theater in downtown Rio and was broadcast on TV Cultura .