International Women's Day: I'm Still Here + Introduction
On International Women's Day there will be a preview of I'm Still Here, a moving drama about the disappearance of engineer and politician Rubens Paiva during the Brazilian dictatorship and his wife's fight for justice. In collaboration with FEM, including introduction (in English).
About the speaker
Eunice León holds a master’s degree in Global Health from Maastricht University and is a trained gynaecologist with over five years of experience working within a non-governmental organization advocating for sexual and reproductive health and rights in low- and middle-income countries. As a health advisor and project manager, Eunice has collaborated with local teams to implement innovative policies and has trained diverse audiences on topics related to sexual and reproductive health. She focuses on applying an intersectionality approach and analysing health determination to design change initiatives that improve access to healthcare and promote gender justice. Currently, Eunice is contributing to the Global Health program at Maastricht University.
About FEM (Female Empowerment UM)
FEM is a network of academic and administrative staff representing all Faculties of Maastricht University. Our mission is to promote the empowerment of women and female leadership at the university, and to foster a broader culture that supports gender equity and diversity.
I’m Still Here - English subtitled
Moving drama by Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries, Central Do Brasil) about the disappearance of engineer and politician Rubens Paiva during the Brazilian dictatorship and his wife’s fight for justice.
Based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva’s memoir, I’m Still Here transports us to Rio de Janeiro in the early 1970s when Brazil’s dictatorship sought to exert its authority through detentions and disappearances.
When I’m Still Here begins, life in the merrily crowded Paiva household is warm and jovial, despite the threat of spot checks and arrests that loom over every outing. All this changes when patriarch Rubens, a former congressman forced to live in exile during the previous decade, is ushered away to provide a mysterious deposition to military interrogators. Soon after, officers come for Eunice Paiva, holding her twelve days in a windowless prison as they try to persuade her to incriminate friends and associates accused of leftwing activities. Eunice emerges from prison transformed, embarking on a journey to expose the government’s illegal activities and refusals to acknowledge their role in the disappearances of thousands of innocent citizens.
Part of what gives I’m Still Here its tremendous power is the way Salles and his collaborators give equal weight to the personal and the political. Eunice remains a loving and fiercely protective mother to her children, even as she pursues the courageous campaign against the dictatorship that will consume several decades of her life. (source: www.tiff.net)