Perhaps it was their cinematic masterpiece that caught Guillermo del Toro’s eye. Or maybe it was just their story. Regardless, the Mexican director has vowed to help 12 members of the Sociedad Matemática Mexicana get to South Africa for the International Math Competition taking place this summer.
On Thursday, Matemáticas CDMX tweeted a video accompanied by dramatic music that illustrated the childrens’ goal of getting to Durban, South Africa. The tweet itself thanked people for making donations and therefore, being part of the journey as well.
Somehow it ended up in front of Guillermo, who then generously offered to fly the students to the competition. “I’ll cover the airfare for all of the 12 members of the olympic math team to South Africa,” he wrote. “@CDMXOMM I’m following you, send me a DM please. Abrazos.”
The math team has been working to get enough funding to go to the competition. While government agency Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (Conacyt) did give the team some money, it was not enough for their expenses, according to Forbes Mexico. There was no other governmental agency to support the young mathematicians.
This has caused many to criticize the government, while lauding del Toro for his offer. Check out a few reactions below.