“Hidden Figures,” starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monae did amazing at the box office following its release.
Although the film has been out of the theatres for months, the Oscar-nominated film still continues to make an impact.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, for the first time in the history of the U.S. State Department, a Hollywood film has inspired a publicly funded exchange program, which will be known as #HiddenNoMore.
The program will “bring 50 women working in science, technology, engineering, and math in 50 countries in Africa, Europe, Asia and Latin America to the United States.”
Liba Rubenstein, head of social impact for 21st Century Fox, said, “This movie has taken on a life of its own and sparked things we’ve never seen before. From a social impact perspective, the enduring relevance of this film means there has been no end to the demand for partnerships.”
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A few months following the film’s release, the State Department contacted Fox and said they were being flooded with requests for the film from different embassies. In April and May, the film screened for many people overseas.
That later caught the attention of the State’s International Visitor Leadership Program.
The participants of the program will arrive in Washington in October where they will be broken up into subgroups and spend three weeks meeting with organizations throughout the U.S. They will later regroup in Los Angeles, where Fox will host a two-day event for them on the lot.
Stacy White, the office director for the State’s International Visitor Leadership Program, said, “Our goal is to get people from diverse communities talking about these issues, that are vital to long-term U.S. security and prosperity.”
It’s great to see that a powerful film had such an impact.
