Catherine Murphy

Catherine Murphy is a U.S. filmmaker, activist and educator, best known for her documentary film MAESTRA about the 1961 Cuban Literacy Campaign. Her work principally focuses on art, education and social justice in the Americas. Murphy founded The Literacy Project in 2004, Tres Musas Producciones in 2009, and Maestra Productions in 2022. Based on this work, she gave one of the 2010 keynote speeches to the Northeast Organic Farming Association. from 2014 - 2016 where she developed a graduate course on the culture and history of Havana.

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.

Maestra Productions

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

Filmography

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

MAESTRA

Director/Producer, MAESTRA ("Teacher"). Documentary. US/Cuba. 2012.

MAESTRA is distributed by Women Make Movies and streams free on Kanopy with most public library cards. It has been translated into six languages and included in recommended curriculum resources and college publications, including the Zinn Education Project, Vanderbilt University and The University of Chicago

MAESTRA at the 2013 International Documentary Festival “OXDOX”

Director, Reading the World Documentary. Brazil. 2025. Winner of Documentary prize at Gramado Film Festival 2025. Director, Maestras Voluntarias. Documentary. US/Cuba. 2022. Director, Fonemas de Liberdade. Documentary. US/Brazil. 2021. Director, Silvio Rodriguez: 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. Associate Producer, Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up? Documentary. Dir: Saul Landau. 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. 2008. Subtitle Editor, The Greening of Cuba. Dir Jaime Kibben. USA. 1997 Production Assistant, Gay Cuba. Documentary. Dir Sonja de Vries. USA. 1994