The Conversation

From the first moving drawings that appeared on screens back in the 1930s to the highly imaginative, emotionally resonant filmmaking of today – animation has come a long way. It is no longer considered a pleasant cinematic distraction for kids. In fact, some of the boldest, most creative and slyly subversive filmmaking can be found in animation. Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two women responsible for bringing animated characters to life.María Cecilia Botero is an actor from Colombia whose career spans five decades. She has experience in everything from performing musical theater, to being a news anchor, to starring in popular telenovelas, to dubbing commercials and most recently voicing the character of the Abuela in the Oscar-Winning Disney film Encanto.Signe Baumane is a Latvian animator based in Brooklyn. Her first of many short stories was published in a local newspaper when she was 14. She went on to illustrate children’s books and create sets for puppet theaters. Since she moved to the United States to further pursue animation, Signe has written, directed and animated 15 shorts and two animated films. Her work has been showcased at over 300 film festivals. She uses animation to confront difficult, adult topics, like “Rocks In my Pockets”, which she also voiced, which covers the 100 year history of her family in Latvia. Produced by Emily Naylor.(Image: (L), María Cecilia Botero , courtesy of María Cecilia Botero. (R), Signe Baumane, courtesy of Signe Baumane.)

What's it like being adopted into a country far away from your birth and into a family that looks very different to you? International and transracial adoptions both come with challenges for children and parents. Beatriz de la Pava talks to two women born in Colombia and South Korea about trying to fit in and discovering more about their roots.Janine Vance was adopted from Seoul by an American couple along with her twin sister when they were six months old. A trip to South Korea in 2004 to an event marking 50 years of intercountry adoption caused her to think more deeply about her heritage. She found out that while most adoptees had been told they were orphans, this wasn't the case and parents were looking for them. She's written several books about adoption and wants to make the process of international adoption more transparent.Yennifer Dallmann Villa was adopted from Colombia by a German couple when she was two years old. She always had a passion to know more about where she'd come from and as an adult discovered a huge online community of adoptees searching for birth families and origin stories. In her 20s she went to Colombia to photograph and write about First Mothers looking for children who'd been taken and adopted. She featured on a TV programme there which helped her find her birth family and is currently living in Colombia.Produced by Jane Thurlow(Image: (Top Left), Janine Vance, courtesy Janine Vance. (Top Right), Yennifer Dallmann Villa, credit Ina Busch. (Bottom Right), Yennifer Dallmann Villa with her birth grandmother and family in Colombia, courtesy Yennifer Dallmann Villa.)

It’s scientifically impossible to read minds, so how do some magicians seem to do it? Beatriz de la Pava delves into the world of mentalism with two renowned women mentalists who regularly amaze and mystify audiences around the world.Ava Do is a magician, mentalist and deceptionist from Vietnam who moved to the United States at thirteen years old. Growing up navigating two different cultural identities, she became fascinated with the subjects of perception and social psychology. After studying Psychobiology at UCLA and working as a crisis counsellor, Ava has spent the last decade turning her academic background and real-world experience with human behavior into a unique style of entertainment.Kruti Parekh from India began her professional career as a magician at an early age. As a child, Kruti performed on national television, and at the age of eleven she received the FIE Foundation National Award. She has been hailed the “youngest female mentalist in Asia”. Currently, she works as a motivational speaker for corporate events and impresses audiences with her skills as a mentalist.Produced by Emily Naylor. (Image: (L), Kruti Parekh, courtesy Kruti Parekh. (R), Ava Do, courtesy Ava Do.)

Beatriz de la Pava talks to birdwatchers from Zimbabwe and Uruguay about their passion for birdlife.Zimbabwean ornithologist Merlyn Nomsa Nkomo was on her way to secure a work placement to study wild dogs as part of her degree when she went birdwatching for the first time. It changed her life and she went to work in a vulture rehabilitation centre instead. She's now studying for a PhD in conservation biology in the Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology at the University of Cape Town. She writes and blogs about her passion for raptors and is keen to bring more black women into the world of birdwatching.Florencia Ocampo started bird watching in Uruguay as a teenager after coming across baby falcons in a street market. While teaching herself falconry from books she became fascinated by the birdlife around her. Motivated by conservation issues she started birding and became a biologist. As well as doing ornithological research she now runs her own tour guide company, Birding With Me.(IMAGE: (L) Florencia Ocampo, courtesy of Florencia Ocampo. (R) Merlyn Nomsa Nkomo, credit Linda Nordling.)

Millions of people around the world love doing puzzles, and since the pandemic they’ve become even more popular. From complex sudoku grids to cryptic clues in crosswords, and recent viral sensations like Wordle, we have long been intrigued by them and make time to pursue them in our daily or weekly routines.But, for some, puzzles are much more than a pastime. What’s it like to solve sudoku competitively or create crosswords for a living? And can puzzles be a space for feminist expression? Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two women to find out.Tantan Dai from China is one of the world’s fastest sudoku solvers. What was once just an elective taken at school swiftly developed into a professional undertaking. She twice won gold in the under 18 category at the World Sudoku Championship. She’s currently based in the USA, where she’s studying mathematics.Anna Shechtman from the United States had her first crossword published in the New York Times at the age of 19 and is now a crossword compiler for The New Yorker. She is also a Klarman Fellow at Cornell University and will begin as an assistant professor in the Department of Literatures in English in 2024.Produced by Emily Naylor and Alice Gioia.(IMAGE: (L), Anna Shechtman, courtesy of Emily Shechtman. (R), Tantan Dai, courtesy of Tantan Dai)

In the world of social media anyone can feel like a friend and become influential - and the internet is full of women giving tips on how to look your best. Kim talks to two beauty influencers with thousands of followers about why they share their lives online and what they get out of it.Dimma Umeh is from Nigeria and shares make up tips for women of colour. She's been creating content on her social media channels for eight years and has hundreds of thousands of followers. Her videos go from eyebrow-shaping tutorials and getting ready for a night out in Lagos, to going on a shopping trip and detailing how she's decorated her apartment.Rammal Mehmud is a photographer turned make-up artist in Pakistan. Based in Islamabad she has an Instagram and YouTube account called Le BeautyAffair. As well as make-up tips she uses her skills as a make-up artist to come up with wildly creative looks – turning herself from The Mona Lisa to Captain Jack Sparrow to a plate of fruit and veg. She says make-up helped get her through a rough patch and she shares content to help others with their confidence and mental health.Produced by Jane Thurlow(Image: (L), Dimma Umeh, courtesy Dimma Umeh. (R), Rammal Mehmud, courtesy Rammal Mehmud.)

According to the World Health Organisation, over two billion people around the world have a vision impairment which could often be preventable or treatable. Women and girls are more likely to experience vision loss, which limits their access to education and work opportunities. Today we meet two women who are trying to change things, one pair of glasses at a time.Dr Priya Morjaria is a public health optometrist from Tanzania. She’s an Assistant Professor of International Eye Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Chair of the Public Health Committee at the World Council of Optometry. She is also Head of Global Programme Design at Peek Vision, a social enterprise that develops digital tools to help eye health services in Africa and Asia connect more people to care.Dr May Ho is a Malaysian-Australian optometrist with over 30 years experience in public and international eye health. She has worked in the development of sustainable eye care and education programmes in Vietnam, Cambodia, in the Pacific Islands and in Africa. She’s currently the Optometry and Primary Care Adviser at The Fred Hollows Foundation.(Image: (L), Priya Morjaria, credit Anne Koerber. (R), Dr May Ho, credit William Orr)

Kim Chakanetsa talks to two engineers from Brazil and Kenya about generating energy for the future.Wangari Muchiri is based in Nairobi. Wangari works for the Global Wind Energy Council and is coordinating the wind industry’s efforts across the African continent. As well as monitoring the construction of vast wind power plants, she works with donors, government agencies and local communities to deliver innovative sustainable energy projects in rural areas.Luany Gomes Dantas is based in Rio de Janeiro, working on global floating offshore wind projects for OWC, an ABL company. Luany is a naval architect and marine engineer. She’s monitoring the Brazilian offshore wind market and supporting the business development of the sector in the country.Produced by Jane Thurlow(Image: (L), Wangari Muchiri, courtesy Wangari Muchiri. (R), Luany Dantas, courtesy Luany Dantas)

Kim Chakanetsa meets two pioneering cinematographers who bring stories about women to the big screen. Rachel Morrison is the first female cinematographer to be nominated for an Oscar for her work on Mudbound, and she’s the only woman who’s ever shot a superhero blockbuster movie (Black Panther). Rachel now focuses on strong female characters: she worked on Seberg, a biopic on the iconic actor Jean Seberg, and is currently shooting a movie about Claressa ‘T-Rex’ Shields, the first woman to win an Olympic gold for boxing. Lilia Sellami is a French and Tunisian director of photography and camera operator. She worked on international Hollywood productions, like Star Wars and Men in Black. She is now based in Northern Africa where she collaborates with female directors to tell the stories of women fighting for their rights. A feature she’s recently worked on, Dying to Divorce, was the UK’s official entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 2022 Academy Awards.Produced by Alice Gioia(Image: (L), Rachel Morrison, credit Rachel Porter. (R), Lilia Sellami, courtesy of Lilia Sellami)

Our lives, how we spend our money and the decisions we make, are often guided by the advertisements we see - whether that's on the streets we walk around or on our screens. Kim Chakanetsa talks to two women from Brazil and the UK who are in the business of influencing our choices.Ana Balarin is co-executive creative director at Wieden & Kennedy Portland, US. She works with her husband, Hermeti. After training as a physiotherapist and moving to the UK from Brazil, she switched to a career in advertising. As executive creative director she oversaw work for clients such as Ikea, KFC and Stella Artois - and ran projects like #FreeTheFeed, confronting taboos around breastfeeding in public. Imogen Tazzyman is one of only 3% of female executive creative directors in the UK. An ECD at McCann Manchester she's overseeing adverts for high street retailers like Aldi and Matalan. She's passionate about encouraging more women into the industry and supporting them to rise to the top: working on the first ever creative apprenticeship scheme, to open up the industry to those without a degree, and Represent Creative - an initiative using social media help those without experience or family links get a look-in.Produced by Jane Thurlow(Image: (L) Imogen Tazzyman, credit Craft, Manchester. (R) Ana Balarin credit Sofija Vujanic.)