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Education does not change the world.
Education changes people. People change the world.
- Paulo Freire
In 1963, global icon Paulo Freire led an experimental project teaching hundreds of rural farmers to read, write and vote in Brazil, until he was arrested and forced into exile during a U.S.backed coup d'etat.
Original Title: Lendo o Mundo
English Title: Reading the World
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 70 minutes
Production Countries: Brazil & US
Year of Production: 2025
Worldwide rights available.
Distribution contact: Erika Hoffgen
Told through the collective memories of farmers, students and educators that participated in the “Culture Circles," where they learned to read and write in 40 hours, the film contains rare archival footage of 1960s Brazil that was recently recovered after being buried for decades. 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. Hundreds of Brazilians became literate and were allowed to vote as a consequence, strengthening the blossoming democracy and social movement that was disrupting the colonial structures. After a shocking coup de' tat, the farmer’s notebooks were set on fire, and Freire was eventually forced into exile for 16 years, spreading his pedagogy around the globe and impacting democracy and education until today. Today Freire is considered one of the most influential philosophers of education in the twentieth century, and revered by educators across the world.
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Directed by: Catherine Murphy, Iris de Oliveira
Producers: Micaela Ovelar, Carina Aparecida, Rachel Dickson
Co-producer: Instituto Paulo Freire
Scriptwriters & Editors: Iris de Oliveira, Renato Maia, Mara Wollong, Luis Dechtiar
Field producers: Silvana Pacheco, Gustavo Correia
Executive producers: Petra Costa, Kit Miller, T.M. Scruggs
Associate producers: Passos Jr, Talaya Grimes, Miranda Montenegro
Consulting producers: Maria Luisa Mendonça, Gary Wright, Jr.
Creative consultants: Denise Zmekhol, Catherine Gund
Cinematography: Carina Aparecida, Cristiano Burlan, Ulisses Brandão, Oto Cartaxo, Caio Castor, Renato Maia, Eduardo Mendonça
Sound: Felipe Mago Andrade, Valney Damacena, Alban Henriquez
Archival Producers: Stephanie Temoteo, Micaela Ovelar
Impact Producer: Erika Hoffgen - Vivá Projetos
Music Supervisor: Fernando Dourado
Archival Footage: Bela Films, SESC, VIU Cine, UFERSA, Repórter Brasil, Mapa Filmes, Caliban Produções Cinematográficas, Cinemateca Brasileira, Arquivo Nacional, Acervo IOCFB, Acervo de Instituto Paulo Freire, Acervo de Marcos Guerra, Acervo de Luiz Lobo, TV UFERSA, TV UFRN, Museo da Pessoa, TV Unicamp, RTS, USC, NARA, Brigada Audiovisual Eduardo Coutinho do MST
Music: Chico Cesar, Bia Ferreira, Cláudio Rabeca, Quinteto de Paraiba
Partners: Casa de Cultura Popular de Angicos, UFRN, LAHMED, UFERSA Angicos, UFERSA Mossoró, Viu Cine
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