Catherine Murphy is a U.S. filmmaker, activist and educator,''Maestra Vanderbilt Curriculum Guide''
Center for Latin American Studies, Vanderbilt University2010 Keynote Speakers
, Northeast Organic Farming Association, 2010 best known for her documentary film MAESTRA about the 1961 Cuban Literacy Campaign. Her work principally focuses on social justice and literacy in the Americas. Murphy founded The Literacy Project in 2004 and Tres Musas Producciones in 2009.

Early life

Murphy was raised on the campus of

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, where her parents both studied. Growing up, she was influenced by her grandmother and great-aunt, both of whom had lived in Cuba at the turn of the 20th century.

Time in Cuba

Murphy studied in Havana during the 1990s in what is known as Cuba's Special Period. While living in Havana, Murphy earned a master's degree in sociology from the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales. An early version of her thesis was published by the

Institute for Food and Development Policy Food First, also known as the Institute for Food and Development Policy, is a nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California, USA. Founded in 1975 by Frances Moore Lappé and Joseph Collins, it describes itself as a "people's think tank and ...

in 1999, under the titl
“Cultivating Havana: Urban agriculture and food security in the years of crisis”
Murphy, Catherine
''Cultivating Havana: Urban agriculture and food security in the years of crisis''
Food First, 1 May 1999 Based on this work, she gave one of the 2010 keynote speeches to the

Northeast Organic Farming Association The Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) is a 501(c) non-profit organization in the United States that promotes healthy food, organic farming practices, and a clean environment. The purpose of the organization is to provide educational c ...

Filmography

Catherine Murphy has earned the following credits for her film work:Resume
Catherine Murphy , IMDB

MAESTRA

Director/Producer
MAESTRA
(Teacher). Documentary. US/Cuba. 2012.MAESTRA
, IMDB.com MAESTRA is distributed by Women Make Movies and streams free on Kanopy with most public library cards. MAESTRA has been translated into six languages and included in multiple recommended curriculum resources, including th
Zinn Education Project
MAESTRA at the International Documentary Festiva
“OXDOX”

Maestra Productions

In 2022 Murphy founde
Maestra Productions
in homage to her first documentary MAESTRA and the women educators who inspired it. Maestra Productions is a collaborative international production house creating documentaries on art, education, and social justice movements.

Other films

* Director, Maestras Voluntarias. Documentary. US/Cuba. 2022. * Director, Fonemas de Liberdade. Documentary. US/Brazil. 2021. * Director, Silvio Rodríguez: My First Calling. Documentary. US/Cuba. 2020. * Co-Producer, They Say I'm Your Teacher. Documentary short. USA. 2019. * Executive Producer. To Be A Miss. Documentary. Dir Flor Salcedo. Venezuela/USA. 2016. * Associate Producer. From Ghost Town to Havana. Documentary. Dir Eugene Corr, 2013. * Director/Producer. MAESTRA. Documentary. US/Cuba. 2012. * Associate Producer. Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up? Documentary. Dir:

Saul Landau Saul Landau (January 15, 1936 – September 9, 2013) was an American journalist, filmmaker and commentator. He was also a professor emeritus at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, where he taught history and digital media. Educa ...

. USA. 2011. * Archive Researcher. Sing Your Song: The Life of Harry Belafonte. Dir Susane Rostock. USA. 2010. * Subtitle Editor. Stealing America: Vote By Vote. Documentary. Dir

Dorothy Fadiman Dorothy Fadiman (born June 3, 1939 in Pennsylvania) is an American documentary filmmaker, director, and producer. Early life Fadiman was raised in Pennsylvania. Education Fadiman attended University of Pittsburgh and Penn State, and receiv ...

. 2008. * Subtitle Editor. The Greening of Cuba. Dir Jaime Kibben. USA. 1997 * Production Assistant. Gay Cuba. Documentary. Dir Sonja de Vries. USA. 1994

Teaching

Murphy is an adjunct professor at New York University'
Center for Global Affairs

, Masters of Science in Global Affairs , New York University where she teaches a graduate course on the culture and history of Havana.
, Masters of Science in Global Affairs , New York University

The Literacy Project

Murphy founded The Literacy Project in 2004 to explore issues of literacy and illiteracy in the Americas. inspired by meeting women who volunteered on the Cuban Literacy Campaign. In 1961, Cuba aimed to eradicate illiteracy across the island in the space of one year. Over 250,000 volunteers traveled across the island to teach reading and writing in rural communities. 100,000 of the volunteers were under 18 and more than half of them were women. In 2003, after completing academic studies in Havana, Murphy recorded the first three interviews with former Literacy Campaign volunteers Norma Guillard, Daysi Veitia and Gina Rey. From 2004 to 2010, she continued to research and record stories of Literacy Campaign volunteers and the rural families that hosted them, eventually producing and directing the documentary MAESTRA and founding The Literacy Project. The Literacy Project collects oral histories and uses a variety of media and documentation methodologies to capture the history of adult literacy work throughout the Americas.About
, The Literacy Project Official Website

References

External links

Maestra Productions

Catherine Murphy IMDb page

Silvio Rodríguez: My First Calling
on Kanopy
MAESTRA: a documentary film by Catherine Murphy (Official Website)

An interview with Catherine Murphy from Festival de Cine Global

Catherine Murphy speaks about MAESTRA at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival
* MAESTRA as an educational teaching resourc
A People's History
by the Zinn Education Project * MAESTRA Film Guide for Educators by Vanderbilt University'
Center for Latin American Studies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Catherine American documentary film directors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American women documentary filmmakers 21st-century American women