El Sistema

Australasian Premiere

This lyrical and moving documentary takes us from the rubbish dumps and barrios of Caracas to the world’s finest concert halls. Children from streets are taken into music schools, given access to music, and taught through the model of the symphony orchestra how to build a better society. Today, some 265,000 Venezuelan children and young people are involved in choirs and orchestras around the country, and El Sistema is exporting some of the world’s finest musicians.

Venezuela’s unique system of music education offers children from violent slums the chance to become world-class musicians. El Sistema is the brainchild of José Antonio Abreu, a former economist and classical music enthusiast, who believes that every poverty-stricken child should have free access to music because it will transform their lives.

Directors Smaczny and Stodtmeier have created a joyful portrait of the power of music as a positive tool for social change. The children speak of gang warfare and gunfire, drugs and violence,
and the dream of a better life through education and music. Quirky, exuberant, honest and heartwarming, El Sistema is both an unlikely journey and an exceptional success story.