In 1963, Paulo Freire led a small group of educators across Northeastern Brazil in experimental “Culture Circles,” teaching 300 rural people to read and write in forty hours. Their innovative method used critical and creative thinking instead of memorization and repetition. By contextualizing and personalizing the lessons, educators used their surroundings to teach vocabulary and construct meaning – and to vote. Freire’s project opened the door for them to get ID cards for the first time and participate in the fervor of the blossoming democracy taking place in Brazil at that time. A coup d’etat in 1964 overthrew the president, shut down the program and set fire to the farmers’ notebooks. Freire was forced into exile for 16 years, spreading this pedagogy around the globe and impacting education until today.
Reading the World is aimed for completion by August 2025.
Stay tuned!
Crew
Directed by Catherine Murphy
Produced by Micaela Ovelar and Carina Aparecida
Co-produced by Rachel Dickson
Edited by Iris de Oliveira, Renato Maia, Mara Wollong & Luis Dechtiar
Associate producers Miranda Montenegro, Gary Wright Jr.
Consulting producers Maria Luisa Mendonça, Denise Zmekhol
Executive producers Petra Costa, Kit Miller, T.M. Scruggs
Cinematography Carina Aparecida, Ulisses Brandão, Cristiano Burlan, Oto Cartaxo, Caio Castor, Renato Maia, Passos Jr.Direct sound Felipe Mago, Valney Damacena, Alban Henriquez
Consulting editors Lucy Phenix, Tracey Quezada, Corey Ohama
Archival producers Stephanie Temoteo and Micaela Ovelar
Impact producer Erika Hoffgen – Vivá Projetos
Communications team Lucia Amieva-Wang, Lauren Pardo, Gabriela Luz Sierra, and Stephanie Temoteo
Music by Bia Ferreira, Chico Cesar and Claudio Rabeca
Produced by Maestra Productions and the Paulo Freire Institute in association with SESC, Bela Films, and the Swiss Consulate in São Paulo.
Made possible by The Quitiplás Foundation, Orchard House Foundation, Buenas Obras Fund, Rosa Parks Fund – and many generous individual donors.Educator Resources and Study Guide
Paulo Freire Bibliography
English | By Micaela Ovelar Márquez
Bibliografia de Paulo Freire
Português | Por Micaela Ovelar Márquez
Español | Por Micaela Ovelar Márquez
Revista Estudos Universitarios, 1963
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