Las maestras de la República (2013) YTS

Reviewed by CinemaSerf 6 / 10

Given that most of the menfolk - and

Given that most of the menfolk - and a fair amount of the women, too - were fighting in the Spanish Civil war of the mid 1930s, the education of the children was left in the hands of women whom hitherto might have been deemed unsuitable, but who now saw an opportunity to champion new doctrines of freedom, liberty and - perhaps more importantly - a right to an education. There was an education system before the war, but this was mainly run by men in conjunction with the Catholic church so was maybe not the most open-minded when it came to empowering the females in the classrooms beyond what I suppose nowadays we would call "home economics", but despite the difficulties and often intransigences from their own side, these determined women set about empowering their own sex. Using a surprising amount of contemporary archive, press headlines, government documents and verbatim reports from contemporaneous diaries this sets out to give us an insight into just how difficult it was for these women during the war and nigh on impossible under Franco's government thereafter. Now there is a great deal of talking going on here, and the very generic appreciation of their efforts does skirt over what could reasonably be questioned as indoctrinating practices from teachers determined to impart their own social and political views on those studying, but at the same time it also spotlights the profound ridiculousness of sexual compartmentalising in the first place - a situation usual to Spain, but more unusual in other European nations where teaching was already carried out predominately and successfully by women. It's one of those documentaries that provides food for thought and ought to encourage further exploration into the still very active practice of the politicising of education.

Reviewed by sara-martin-1 10 / 10

An homage to unsung female heroes

This is an excellent documentary that does a very good job of presenting its subject and making a very valid point about it. 'Maestras de la República' pays homage to the many women who, mainly as primary school teachers, brought much-needed fresh air to the Spanish classrooms in the brief years of the Republic (1931-9). Representing a new generation of Spanish women, co-educated and trained with the men to be the teachers a new Spain needed, they did their job as well as they could, only to be ostracized, stripped of their positions and even worse by Franco's regime. Beyond its valuable topic, the documentary happens to be very well built, with insightful interviews with key specialists, the right human interest touch and a very successful overall didactic tone. All this deserved a Goya award but, what is more important, still deserves catching the attention of many more spectators.

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Las maestras de la República

2013 [SPANISH]

Documentary / History

Las maestras de la República

2013 [SPANISH]

Documentary / History

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Given that most of the menfolk - and

An homage to unsung female heroes

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