UMU Film Forum “Science on the Big Screen” is close to full capacity in the regional film library

The Unit for Scientific Culture and Innovation (UCC + i) of the University of Murcia, through the program “Murcia Mi Ciudad Enseña”, set within the framework of the European project “Midnight Goes To School”, returns to the big screen two films as seemingly distant as “Hidden Figures (2016) and Happy Feet. Breaking the Ice ”(2006) for the Film Forum “Science on the Big Screen”.

Approximately 800 students took seats in the Regional Film Library on April 21 and 28 in two sessions of the Seventh Art Unit of Science being implemented by UMU.

After discussing the proposal, four questions were asked about the film’s plot and the presentation of the two researchers, María José Urtin Ibáñez and José Antonio García Chartón, led to an unexpected twist in the script. Among the students who answered correctly, a big prize was drawn for the students who didn’t pay attention behind the scenes.

Space invasion

María José Urtin Ibáñez, a professor in the Department of Computing and Systems at the University of Murcia, tells the scientific story behind the film that Theodore Melfi brought to the big screen.

Hidden Figures is based on the true story of three African American women who were the main actresses during the space race of the 1960s. In the midst of a country where segregation is still legal and masculinity an unwritten law, they calculated the launch that would put John Glenn, the first American to travel to outer space, into orbit.

environment, with happy feet

Jose Antonio García Chartón, professor of ecology and researcher in charge of the Marine Environment and Conservation Research Group at UMU, tells the true story behind the great nation of Antarctic penguins facing food shortages due to the poaching trade and pollution of the sea. oceans.

‘Mumble’, the protagonist, is the only penguin in the flock without the talent for singing and tired of being an outcast, he embarks on an adventure to bring home food and gain the acceptance of his family. The animation blends comedy, musicals, and adventure to convey an environmental message about the responsibility all species have in preserving the planet, which is why it won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature and the “For All Audiences” tag.