Documentary by American Director about Silvio Rodríguez to be Presented in Cuba

March 2, 2023

The documentary "Silvio Rodríguez: Mi primera tarea," by American director Catherine Murphy, will be presented on March 3 in Santiago de Cuba.

The audiovisual will be part of the programming of the Santiago Álvarez in memoriam Documentary Festival, which is celebrated annually in the eastern province and for which the Rialto Cinematographic Cultural Center will host the exhibition of material about the Cuban troubadour.

"Silvio Rodriguez: Mi primera tarea" premiered in 2020 virtually as part of a tribute paid by the Hot House Global platform to the Cuban singer-songwriter and which featured the participation of Cuban and international artists remotely performing their favorite Rodríguez song. Among the participants were Lila Downs, Susana Baca, Quetzal, Kelvis Ochoa, Francisco Herrera, Katia Cardenal, Rebel Diaz, Dúo Made y Feña, and Roly Berrío, among others.

With a duration of 26 minutes, its director has wanted to interweave archival images from the 1961 Literacy Campaign with an exclusive interview with Silvio in which he recounts how at age 14 he volunteered to join the brigade that went up into the Cuban mountains to teach peasants to read and write.

According to the website of The Literacy Project, led by Murphy, in the conversation the Cuban artist shares his memories about how he was impacted by the experience and how it shaped his life.

"For the first time in my life I left my family and took on a social cause as an active member of society (…) Perhaps this first adventure is what put me on a path of adventure and social consciousness that defines me as a man," Silvio commented in the material according to that platform.

Catherine Murphy is founder and director of the aforementioned multimedia documentary project about adult literacy in the Americas. Furthermore, as an independent producer she has been focused mainly on making social documentaries, directing and producing field materials for other recognized professionals in the field such as Matt Dillon, Saul Landau, and Eugene Corr.