is a collaborative international production house that creates documentaries centered on art, education, and social justice movements.

In 2011, we released our first film, MAESTRA, which chronicles the story of the youngest women teachers from the Cuban Literacy Campaign of 1961. The film has since been screened to a diverse range of audiences in movie theaters, classrooms and organizations across the globe. It has been translated into six languages, received several international awards and was picked up for distribution by Women Make Movies. Film director Catherine Murphy and protagonists Norma Guillard, Griselda Aguilera and Blanca Monett have all toured the US extensively with the film. 

Our archive of interviews and research documents are now housed at the University of North Carolina. 

In 2020, we released Silvio Rodriguez: Mi Primera Tarea, where this global music icon shares his personal coming-of-age story of participating in the Cuban Literacy Campaign. The film has screened at the Cine+Mas San Francisco Latino Film Festival, LASA Latin American Studies Association Film Festival, the International Documentary Festival of Buenos Aires, the Santiago Alvarez Documentary Festival and more. Silvio Rodriguez: Mi Primera Tarea is now distributed for educational use by New Day Films and available for streaming on Kanopy. 

To celebrate the decade-long journey of the MAESTRA film, we launched this new initiative to expand our vision as producers and filmmakers. As of Summer 2023, the Literacy Project created the new production arm Maestra Productions. Operating with the same heart and dedication, we will continue to document testimonies related to literacy, education, art, and social justice movements. We look forward to becoming more tenacious, creative and boundless in our approach to filmmaking.

We are currently working on a series of new films, including a feature documentary on the early pedagogical work of renowned Brazilian philosopher and educator Paulo Freire, that will roll out in the months and years to come. We are also planning to expand our role as executive producers, working to support work by other directors and producers whose projects align with our mission. We look forward to continuing to build and grow with you in our new chapter!