Spotlight on The Literacy Project
Throughout the month of September, we will feature three short films from The Literacy Project, by Director Catherine Murphy.
Could illiteracy be significantly reduced, even eradicated, at a national level by recruiting literate adolescents to travel to distant areas and teach in people’s homes? This was the mission of Cuba’s youth brigades in the 1961 Literacy Campaign. In one year, 250,000 volunteers taught 700,000 people to read and write. 100,000 of the teachers were under 18 years old. Over half were women.
Director Catherine Murphy takes us back to this extraordinary time through captivating documentary footage and the volunteers testimonies in two short films that tell this story from two different perspectives, that of renowned singer Silvio Rodriguez in “My First Calling” and that of dozens of female volunteers in “Maestra”.
– “Catherine Murphy’s project rescues the most important literacy experience in the Americas. Its protagonists share their own experiences, each one recounting a formidable collective adventure”. (Eduardo Galeano, Uruguayan writer)
– “MAESTRA highlights the will and courage that made the monumental undertaking possible and the fundamental role of women’s and youth empowerment in building a new society.” Women make movies
Mi Primera Tarea (My First Calling)
Silvio Rodriguez: Mi Primera Tarea (My First Calling) (2020).
Documentary, Cuba (25 mins). In Spanish with English Subtitles.
When internationally renowned Cuban singer Silvio Rodriguez was just 14 years old, he volunteered to teach illiterate rural families how to read and write, as part of Cuba’s youth brigades in the 1961 Literacy Campaign. Decades after this little known life-changing experience, Silvio provides deeply insightful reflections on what transformed him. “Youth want big tasks, noble ones, that help them grow.”
Maestra (Teacher)
Maestra (Teacher) (2012).
Documentary, Cuba (33 mins.). In Spanish with English Subtitles.
In 1961, tens of thousands of young Cuban girls (under 18 years-old) volunteered to leave their homes and move to distant, rural areas in Cuba to help eradicate illiteracy. This short film focuses on the experiences of nine of the youngest of these women, by interweaving their thoughtful recent interviews with fascinating archival footage and photos. For many, this year was profoundly significant. “In the history of my life, it is the most important thing that I have done.” Narrated by Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker.
The Literacy Project also takes us to Brazil.
Catherine Murphy kindly offers as a Special Preview (to be released at our Festival) of her work-in-progress documentary about the work of Paulo Freire (author of “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”) on literacy. This film will show the practical foundations of Paulo Freire’s pedagogy and features the first literacy campaign in the Northeast of Brazil.
See the recorded session with Director Catherine Murphy and with four adolescent teachers of the 1961 Cuban Literacy Campaign (Norma Guillard and Griselda Aguilera, featured in the short film “Maestra” and Gilberto Garcia and Fatima Addine)
Director Catherine Murphy: Catherine Murphy is a Washington DC-based filmmaker who has spent much of her life living and working in Latin America. She is the founder and director of The Literacy Project, a multi-platform documentary and popular education project about literacy in the Americas. After a decade producing documentaries, she made her directorial debut with MAESTRA (2012).
It was followed by THEY SAY I’M YOUR TEACHER, which explores the South Carolina Citizenship Schools of the 1950s, SILVIO RODRIGUEZ: MI PRIMERA TAREA and MAESTRAS VOLUNTARIAS. He is currently working on a documentary about the early pedagogical work of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire. Four short stories based on his interviews were published in Eduardo Galeano’s penultimate book, Espejos.
The Literacy Project: The Literacy Project creates an archive of personal stories related to literacy and social justice and the role of literacy programs in social justice movements throughout the Americas, through a variety of media and documentation methodologies.
Study Resources are available here: https://theliteracyproject.org/resources-2/
Cinematic Spaces of Education Festivalette
© All rights reserved