Showing of Maestra
Event Start Date: January 18, 2019 7:00 PM
Event End Date: January 18, 2019 8:30 PM
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Maestra - A film by Catherine Murphy
2012, 33 minutes, Color/BW
January 18 | 7:00 PM
Ustler
In 1961, over 250,000 Cubans joined their country’s National Literacy Campaign and taught more than 707,000 other Cubans to read and write. Almost half of these volunteer teachers were under 18. More than half were women.
Narrated by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker, MAESTRA (Spanish for teacher) explores the experiences of nine of the women who, as young girls, helped eradicate Cuban illiteracy within one year. Interweaving recent interviews, archival footage, and campaign photos, this lively documentary includes one of the first Cubans of her generation to call herself a feminist and one of the first openly proud members of Cuba’s LGBT community. With wit and spirit, all recall negotiating for autonomy and independence in a culture still bound by patriarchal structures.
Eight years in the making, MAESTRA highlights the will and courage that made the monumental endeavor possible and the pivotal role of women’s and youth empowerment in building a new society.
Norma Guilliard, one of the women featured in the film, will discuss the film and her work with Afro-descendant women in Cuba.
Sponsors: Center for Latin American Studies, the Center for Gender Sexualities and Women’s Studies Research, Multicultural and Diversity Affairs and the Samuel L. Proctor Oral History Project