Synopsis
The documentary by Mari Soppela focuses on glass ceilings, a metaphor for the invisible borders between men and women in work life. Talk about glass ceilings is usually associated with women’s opportunities to advance to well paid managerial positions, but the documentary connects more broadly to the structural problems of working life from women’s perspective. Glass ceilings are long trials about equal pay, having to continually prove one’s skills, and 85-cent euros. The topic cannot be handled without intersectional crossings: what are invisible glass ceilings for some, are solid concrete for others.It’s Raining Women shows the impact of work life statistics on women’s lives throughout the world and reminds us that juridical equality does not guarantee societal equality. The demolition of deeply rooted attitudes and unwritten rules needs work to be done throughout generations.
The documentary follows painful hits to glass ceilings and through them without telling heroic tales of individuals under the patriarchy. Glass ceilings are not to be broken alone or for one’s own gain, as the fight for equality demands the power of the people. The documentary, which was filmed during a five-year period, is set in the fascinating crossroads in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and the preceding years. The pandemic’s effects on working life have especially hurt women in low-paid jobs, and the statistics of the equality of working life have become more gloomy at a fast pace. This is a battle, which needs everyone to take part. [DocPoint DFF]