Landfill Harmonic
Landfill Harmonic is an award-winning 2015 documentary film about The Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, a Paraguayan musical youth group that live next to one of South America’s largest landfills. This unlikely orchestra plays music from instruments made entirely out of garbage. Filmed over five years, Landfill Harmonic follows their story as they tentatively begin to play public performances to the moment they are catapulted into the global spotlight and beyond. The story was conceived by founder and executive producer, Alejandra Amarilla and producer and co-director, Juliana Peñaranda-Loftus. The film was directed by Brad Allgood and Graham Townsley. Music was composed by Michael A. Levine..[1][2]
| Landfill Harmonic | |
|---|---|
| File:Pubdomain lh.jpg | |
| Story by | Alejandra Amarilla |
| Directed by | Brad Allgood and Graham Townsley; co-director Juliana Peñaranda-Loftus |
| Composer(s) | Michael A. Levine |
| Country of origin | United States, Paraguay, Brazil, Norway |
| Original language(s) | Spanish (English Subtitles) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Alejandra Amarilla, Rodolfo Madero and Belle Murphy |
| Producer(s) | Juliana Peñaranda-Loftus (Co-Producer:) Jorge Maldonado (Associate Producers:) Natalie Irby and Jennifer Tocquigny |
| Cinematography | Neil Barrett, Timothy Fabrizio and Brad Allgood |
| Editor(s) | Brad Allgood |
| Running time | 84 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Meetai Films, Bella Voce Films, Eureka Productions, Hidden Village Films |
| External links | |
| Landfill Harmonic Website | |
Search Landfill Harmonic on Amazon.
Background[edit]
Alejandra Amarilla, founder and executive producer, was born in Asuncion, Paraguay. She has been living in the United States for many years and wanted to create awareness about children's issues in her native country. Her passion for film led her to the idea of making a documentary film.
She contacted Juliana Peñaranda-Loftus, Producer and Co-Director, to help her with this endeavor. They traveled to Paraguay in 2009 to find a story. During their trip, they interviewed various organizations and through this process they discovered a music teacher who used instruments made from trash due to the students’ need for real instruments. At that point the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura was unknown and people did not know about their work. Alejandra and Juliana met with Favio Chavez, music teacher and director of the orchestra, and soon after the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura was chosen to be the story for the documentary film.[3]
Synopsis[edit]
Landfill Harmonic follows the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, an unlikely musical group made up of kids who live next to one of South America’s largest landfills. Just a few miles south of the Paraguayan capital of Asunción, Cateura is home to around 2,500 families, most of which make their living collecting and selling recyclable materials found in the landfill. Cateura is a community rampant with crime, alcohol and drug abuse, and very few opportunities for children.[4]
In 2006, environmental engineer and musician Favio Chavez ended up in Cateura as part of an ambitious recycling project working with the gancheros. In his spare time, Favio offered free music classes to children in the community. However, the amount of children exceeded the number of instruments. As a solution, Favio partnered with Nicolas “Colá” Gomez, one of the gancheros he met while working in the community. Together, they came up with the innovative idea to make instruments from materials found in the landfill. Their musical creations include violins fashioned from baking tins and paint cans, cellos and basses from oil drums, and wind instruments from water pipes and spoons. With these instruments and a small group of dedicated kids, “The Recycled Orchestra” was born.[5]
Two of the orchestra members highlighted in the film, Ada Rios and Tania Vera, started playing with the orchestra when they were just 8 years old, and under the guidance of Favio, become proficient musicians over their years in the orchestra. For both Ada and Tania, music provides meaning and significance in their lives.
In late 2012, a teaser of the Landfill Harmonic was posted on the internet. When the orchestra’s story goes viral, they are catapulted into the global spotlight. Favio and the orchestra must navigate a strange new world of arenas and sold-out concerts. However, when a natural disaster strikes their country, Favio must find a way to keep the orchestra intact and provide a source of hope for their town. The film is a testament to the transformative power of music and the resilience of the human spirit.
Reception[edit]
In 2012, the film teaser alone went viral on Youtube. [6]. The story on how the orchestra went viral was featured on Fox News Channel, Michael & Kelly, NBC News, The Daily Telegraph, NPR Music [7], The New York Times, People (magazine), Time Inc, Wired (magazine), O, The Oprah Magazine and 60 minutes[8]
In 2013, the Landfill Harmonic team collaborated with CBS’s 60 minutes[9] on a story on the orchestra, “The Recyclers: From Trash Comes Triumph”.
Awards and Nominations[edit]
- 2015 Winner, Audience Award – “24 Beats Per Second”, South By Southwest Film Festival 2015, World Premiere
- 2015 Winner, The Moving Mountains Prize, Telluride Mountainfilm Festival 2015
- 2015 Winner, Runner Up Audience Award for Best Feature Film, Illuminate Film Festival 2015
- 2015 Winner, Audience Award and Inspiring Lives Award, San Francisco Green Film Festival 2015
- 2015 Winner, Family Friendly feature Award, Maui Film Festival 2015[10]
- 2015 Special Mention, Environmental category, Sheffield Doc Festival 2015[11]
- 2015 winner, VIFF Impact: International Audience Award, Vancouver International Film Festival[12][13]
- Official Selection Greenwich International Film Festival 2015
- Official Selection, New York International Children’s Film Festival 2015
- Official Selection, Environmental Film Festival 2015
- Official Selection, TIFF Kids Film Festival 2015[14]
- Official Selection, Adelaide Film Festival 2015[15]
- Official Selection, New Zealand International Film Festival 2015[16]
- Official Selection, Calgary International Film Festival 2015[17]
Outreach / Involvement[edit]
Viewers can support both the orchestra and production of the film.
GO Campaign directly supports the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, Paraguay.[18]Creative Visions directly supports the production of the film, Landfill Harmonic. [19]
References[edit]
- ↑ Kate Messer (2015-03-20). "SXSW Film Review: Landfill Harmonic". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 2015-10-19.
- ↑ "Landfill Harmonic". Landfill Harmonic Website.
- ↑ "Landfill Harmonic Website". Landfill Harmonic Website.
- ↑ "IMDb". IMDb.
- ↑ "Price of success: Will the Recycled Orchestra last?". CBS News. CBS News. Nov 17, 2013.
- ↑ "Landfill Harmonic Trailer". Youtube.
- ↑ "The Landfill Harmonic: An Orchestra Built From Trash". NPR Music.
- ↑ "60 Minutes: Landfill Harmonic". Youtube.
- ↑ "60 Minutes: Landfill Harmonic". Youtube.
- ↑ Sara Tekula (2015-06-08). "2015 Maui Film Festival Audience Award Winners Announced". Maui Film Festival. Retrieved 2015-10-20.
- ↑ "Sheffield Doc/Fest 2015 Award Winners". Retrieved 2015-10-20.
- ↑ "Brooklyn Wins VIFF Rogers People's Choice Award" (Press release). Jive Communications. 2015-10-09. Retrieved 2015-10-18.
- ↑ Matthew Robinson (2015-10-10). "Mina Shum wins Women in Film Artistic Merit Award for Ninth Floor at VIFF". The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 2015-10-19.
- ↑ "Landfill Harmonic (programme note)". Archived from the original on 2015-09-11. Retrieved 2015-10-20.
- ↑ "Landfill Harmonic (programme note)". Adelaide Film Festival. Retrieved 2015-10-20.
- ↑ "Landfill Harmonic (programme note)". Retrieved 2015-10-20.
- ↑ "Landfill Harmonic (programme note)". Calgary International Film Festival. Retrieved 2015-10-20.
- ↑ "Supporting the Recycled Orchestra". https://gocampaign.org. External link in
|website=(help) - ↑ "Creative Vision: Landfill Harmonic". http://www.creativevisions.org. External link in
|website=(help)
External links[edit]
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