Finding Freire: A Collaborative Documentary

The collaborative documentary of 9 ComDev-ers’ journey to Brazil to get to know the late Paulo Freire through the work and people he inspired.

In the summer of 2024, I was invited by the Ohio University Communication and Development for Social Change (ComDev) program director, Dr. Saumya Pant, to accompany my classmates – a group of graduate ComDev students – to Brazil. Our goal was to film an interview with a pillar in the field of pedagogy: Ana Maria Araújo (Nita) Freire. Not only is she a former teacher who has published her own renowned materials on education as resistance and the history of education, she also empowered and collaborated with her husband, the legendary Paulo Freire.

Paulo Friere’s magnum opus, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, is canon for all ComDev students. Nita lived out Paulo’s philosophy, detailed the context and history of his work, and organized three of his books following his death in 1997. In the present day, she rarely grants interviews, so the trip was formed around the opportunity to explore Paulo Freire’s living philosophy through Nita’s interview along with visits to two Brazilian projects employing Paulo Freire’s philosophy of participatory education and community conscientization.

This documentary was then created at the invitation of Media Arts & Studies professor Brian Plow, who specializes in narrative filmmaking. He was interested in not only the academic value of the interview and project reports, but also the story of the journey taken by the students. Thus Finding Freire was born (and continues to grow).

The Barbara Geralds Institute for Storytelling and Social Impact

Video production work created as a graduate student employee of the Storytelling Institute.

Michelle's Story of Passion Works Studio

Director and Producer

3rd Annual 5K Pave The Way To Childhood Cancer Awareness

Director and Producer

Lessons from the Field-Student Spotlight on Jorge Castillo

Director and Producer

A Work of Passion

Assistant Producer

Fostering Inclusive Communities

Director and Producer

Inviting Curiosity through the Arts

Assistant Producer