Hidden Figures | e.tv

Three female African-American mathematicians play a pivotal role in astronaut John Glenn’s launch into orbit. Meanwhile, they also have to deal with racial and gender discrimination at work.

Katherine Johnson works at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, alongside her colleagues Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan. All of them African-American women, where, the units, where they work are segregated by race and sex.

White supervisor Vivian Mitchell assigns Katherine to assist Al Harrison’s Space Task Group, given her skills in analytic geometry. She becomes the first Black woman on the team; head engineer Paul Stafford is especially dismissive.

Hidden Figures is an American biographical drama film directed by Theodore Melfi and written by Melfi and Allison Schroeder.

This movie is loosely based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly about African American female mathematicians who worked at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) during the Space Race.

The film stars Taraji P. Henson as Katherine Johnson, Octavia Spencer as Dorothy Vaughan, and Janelle Monáe as Mary Jackson. Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, Mahershala Ali, Aldis Hodge, and Glen Powell featured in supporting roles.