This linocut belongs to a suite of ten prints that Leopoldo Méndez created for the film Río Escondido (Hidden River), directed by Emilio Fernández (1904–1986) and shot by Gabriel Figueroa (1907–1997)—two greats of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. The prints, which appear during the film’s opening credits, are graphic interpretations of scenes viewers see as the narrative unfolds.

In Little School Teacher, How Immense Is Thy Will! (Pequeña maestra, ¡qué inmensa es tu voluntad!), Méndez shows the film’s protagonist (played by Mexican movie star María Félix) beginning a long trek to the town where she has been dispatched to teach. Wrapped in a rebozo (shawl), the diminutive teacher trudges through an immense, barren landscape—imagery taken directly from the film. Overhead, Méndez introduces a soaring eagle and a figure carrying the Mexican flag. Méndez had long aspired to make graphic murals and to create prints on a monumental scale; the horizontal format, dramatic chiaroscuro, and overall sense of dynamism lend the work a cinematic quality.