Cuban News Agency

The 33 minute documentary was selected to open the series of short films at the festival which kicked off on Tuesday in Traverse City, Michigan.

“Maestra” pays homage to thousands of young Cuban women in the 1960´s that struggled against illiteracy on the island. “This is not only the history of literacy but about daily heroes, hopes and dreams. The documentary deals on the mobilization of 50 000 young Cuban women that launched a hard task to help construct a new society at the ages of 16 and 17”, said Murphy which dedicated close to ten years researching archives, looking for volunteer teachers and recording an oral history of their experiences.

“Maestra” explores this story through the personal testimonies of the young women who left the comfort of their houses to eradicate illiteracy in rural communities across the island and found themselves deeply transformed in the process.

A total of 250 000 volunteers taught 700 000 people to read and write in one year. A fifth of the teachers were under 18 years old.

Uruguayan writer and journalist Eduardo Galeano said that “Catherine Murphy's project rescues the most important literacy experience in the Americas. Her protagonists share their own experiences, each telling a formidable collective adventure.”

The Traverse City Film Festival is an educational and nonprofit organization founded and directed by filmmaker and local resident Michael Moore and it runs each year from July 31st to August 5th.