Eugenie Hunsicker, chair of the London Mathematical Society's Women in Mathematics Committee, and her sister Irina Linke, a cinematographer, produced a short film for International Women's Day, March 8, 2018, featuring cameos by women mathematicians around the globe. Each woman gives her name and country and says in her own language "I am a mathematician".
Eugenie had contacted the IMU Committee for Women in Mathematics (CWM), who decided to support their project. A request for film clips sent around the world through the 120 CWM Ambassadors list resulted in a phenomenal response -- 149 clips representing 249 women from 37 countries speaking 32 languages, and collected in less than one month.
The initial plan was for the film to be 3 min long, but Irina and Eugenie wanted to include all the clips (the last one from Agustina, 6 years old, who "wants to be a mathematician") and CWM provided financial support for Irina's heavy editing task.
The film emphasizes the international nature of mathematics. There are women in the film speaking Chinese in the US, Greek in the Netherlands. There's a clip of a Russian woman speaking Tatar in Germany; and in one single clip from the UK, Hebrew, Brazilian, German and English are spoken.
The focus of the film is on proud, strong women that are actively doing maths, but it also emphasizes that it's not unusual for women to work in mathematics. The film shows women everywhere who enjoy it and do it as a profession. It is also an opportunity for people to see images of strength and pride from developing countries. It's a film about women, but it's also about expanding people's ideas about countries that are often only heard about in the context of crisis. One aim of the movie is that the next time people hear about Nigeria, Nepal or the Philippines, they think, `Oh, yeah, that is the place with all of those fantastic women mathematicians!'"
The film (14 mn 02 sec) can be seen at: https://vimeo.com/259039018
A trailer (2 mn 40 sec) can be seen at: https://vimeo.com/260633621
There is also a devoted Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/facesofwomeninmathematics/
The film has been a huge success since its release on March 8, 2018, with more than 26,000 views during the first three days.
Marie-Françoise Roy, chair of CWM,
based on Eugenie Hunsicker's and Irina Linke's press release.