The Gender Workshop aims to continue its "Feminist Talks" with people from various areas of intervention and work in gender equality, and women's dignity and well-being in Portugal and Spain. This conversation focuses on the work of Roberta Fernandes, interviewed by Vanessa Cavalcanti. Projection of the documentary «Ato Final».

About the documentary

The main characters in this film are dead, victims of their partners. In Brazil, four are killed every day. To tell their stories, three actresses were challenged to experience, onstage, the emotions of women who are intimately living with the risk of death. At the same time, a group of femicide survivors fights to save other women trapped in abusive relationships. Various narratives merge into a cry, precisely because silence also kills women every day. Released in Brazil on 16 November 2023.

Bio notes

Roberta Fernandes | Journalist and film director, her work is strongly tied to social issues. She won the 2018 Canal Brasil Award for Short Films with "If You Tell", a film about child sexual abuse, which was shown at festivals in Brazil and abroad. She has also directed the TV documentaries «Congo Santo» and «Acerca da Pele». In 2023, her first feature film, «Ato Final», a documentary about femicide, premiered in the cinema.

Vanessa Cavalcanti | Historian and university professor, with more than thirty years of experience in the field of education, feminist studies and human rights. PhD in Human Rights and International Relations from the University of León (Spain) and two postdoctoral internships in Humanities from the University of Salamanca, Spain (CAPES and CNPq). She is a lecturer in the Postgraduate Programme in Interdisciplinary Studies on Women, Gender and Feminism at the Federal University of Bahia. Member of the Institute of Sociology of the University of Porto, of the Portuguese Association of Sociology, Adult Education and Community Intervention Research Centre of the University of Algarve (Portugal). Areas of expertise: Contemporary History and Present Time, Human Rights, Democracy and Citizenship, Gender, Feminism, Education, Public Policies and Migration.

Rodrigo Cerqueira | Journalist, PhD in History, and filmmaker. Between 1999 and 2003, he worked as a reporter for the newspaper O Globo, and as a teacher and researcher between 2005 and 2017. Rodrigo directed the TV series «Relatos Ausentes» and «Sou Casaca», which aired on Canal Futura, and co-directed the documentaries «Congo Santo» and «Acerca da Pele». He has acted as editor and executive producer on several other productions, including the feature film «Ato Final».