Change Your Image
judithamurphy
Reviews
Maestra (2012)
Young women transform themselves and others as volunteer literacy teachers
This inspiring documentary follows young women who volunteer as students to go to the undeveloped countryside and teach as literacy volunteers in 1961. On the surface it is about that literacy campaign, the year Cuba devoted much of its GNP to bring basic literacy to all her citizens. Deeper is a lively example of young people discovering their own potential. From middle class backgrounds with chaperons and close supervision, these young people are sent to live with and share the poverty of uneducated peasants; this exposure liberates them from the restrictive ideas they had about their own futures.
It is worth watching for the remarkable rarely seen historical footage from Cuban film archives. This extensive archival content is interwoven with interviews of these women later in life, and creates a lovely coming of age arc.
Show it to the teenagers you know for its demonstration of the power of individuals to make a difference.