Feature film
The Teacher
El brigadista
Octavio Cortázar · 1977
Synopsis
Early 1961, during the literacy campaign. Mario, fifteen, the son of a well-off family, is sent to teach the inhabitants of a remote village of charcoal burners to read, on the marshy southern coast of the island, where people live without electricity or a paved road. He has to win the trust of people who doubt him because of his youth, starting with Gonzalo, the village chief, while armed bandits support an invasion by mercenaries.
Context
The screenplay was written by the director with Luis Rogelio Nogueras, and the leading roles go to Patricio Wood and Salvador Wood, with René de la Cruz, Adela Legrá and Luis Rielo in support. The subject was familiar to Octavio Cortázar: at the time of this campaign he had already put cinema at the service of education. The story adopts the point of view of a teenager from the city, confronted at once with illiteracy, the villagers' mistrust and the violence of groups backing the invasion from outside.
Who it is for
Feature film in Spanish. It is worth knowing that in 1961 young volunteers were sent into the countryside to teach reading and writing.
Prizes and reception
Silver Bear for an outstanding artistic contribution at the twenty-eighth Berlin festival, in 1978.