For over 20 years, global economic forces have been dismantling public education in Mexico, but always in the constant shadow of popular resistance. Granito de Arena is the story of that resistance – the story of hundreds of thousands of public schoolteachers whose grassroots, non-violent movement took Mexico by surprise, and who have endured brutal repression in their 25-year struggle to defend public education. Award-winning filmmaker, Jill Freidberg (This is What Democracy Looks Like, 2000), spent two years in southern Mexico documenting the efforts of over 100,000 teachers, parents, and students fighting to defend the country’s public education system. Freidberg combines footage of strikes and direct actions with 25 years worth of never-before-seen archival images to deliver a compelling and unsettling story of resistance, repression, commitment, and solidarity. Interviews with internationally-recognized figures, such as Eduardo Galeano and Maude Barlow, place the Mexican teachers’ struggle in a global context, clearly spelling out the relationship between economic globalization and the worldwide public education crisis. A sixty-minute documentary, Granito de Arena also gives voice to the increasing number of teachers within the movement who believe the movement itself is in crisis and who are exploring alternatives in their struggle to defend public education. Featuring a driving soundtrack by DJ Food, Slowrider, PlanB, and Los Mocosos, Granito de Arena fuels indignation, inspires action, and raises important questions about democracy, sovereignty, and the universal right to public education.

Forms: Documentary, Feature
Genres: Alternative, Educational, Underground, Human Rights, Independent, War/Peace, Urban, Culture
Niches: Native/Aboriginal Peoples, Hispanic, Latino, Third World, Student