Recycled Orchestra members Maria, Nohelia, and Tania
© Landfill Harmonic

A Story That Goes Beyond Film

Last fall, a documentary trailer about the Paraguayan children’s Recycled Orchestra went viral. The musical group is made up of youth who were raised on the Cateura city landfill; their music teacher is using brilliantly-designed recycled instruments to provide them with life-changing experiences.

If you haven’t seen this trailer, you must take a few minutes to do so. If you have seen it, it is worth watching again.

If video does not display, watch it here.

Without Favio Chávez, the orchestra leader, these children might be caught up in a continuous whirlwind of alcoholism, drugs, and crime on a garbage heap. Instead, these talented, devoted children have a chance to rise from their bleak backgrounds and travel the world to share their skills.

Tania Vera, a fifteen-year-old violinist, declares, “Thanks to the orchestra, we were in Rio de Janeiro! We bathed in the sea.”

Oh, I see (as I’m sure you did) how one person can dramatically change the lives of others.

Favio Chávez (right) directs the orchestra, and Nicolás Gómez (left)
creates the instruments from materials he finds in the landfill.
© Landfill Harmonic

The Film

Landfill Harmonic, the documentary film about this unique orchestra, is being created by an accolade-rich group of producers, directors, and editors.

The process began in 2009 when executive producer Alejandra Amarilla Nash and producer Juliana Penaranda-Loftus traveled to Paraguay with the goal of creating a film about the underserved children there. After a series of interviews, the pair discovered the deeply inspiring story of the Recycled Orchestra.

Production began in 2010, and the many days of filming led to the trailer you watched. That viral trailer has been watched about 3 million times and generated over 800 comments on Vimeo and You Tube, including inquiries about seeing the orchestra on tour.

Oh, I see how a few people can tell a story that inspires millions.

Beyond the Film

The team behind this film aims to support change beyond the kind that producers might get in their pockets. Landfill Harmonic’s goals include:

• Educating audiences about sustainability and ways to recycle.
• Motivating youth to be creative and resourceful by helping them recognize what they have to succeed.
• Bringing attention to the poor sanitary conditions and help needed in Cateura.

A violin designed by Nicolás Gómez from a metal glue cannister,
fork, used strings, recycled wood and tuning pegs.
© Landfill Harmonic

Community Involvement

As part of its goal to involve the community, a few days ago, Landfill Harmonic launched a fundraising effort on Kickstarter, a crowdfunding site.

Landfill Harmonic says that it chose crowdfunding because it “allows us the freedom to tell the story in a way it deserves to be told and more importantly allows all of you to have a direct impact and voice in how the projects develops, from the film, to the Landfill Harmonic Social Movement and setting up chapters worldwide.”

In addition, Landfill Harmonic is collecting donated instruments to send to the Recycled Orchestra and similar programs in places like Haiti or Kenya.

Oh, I see how many individuals can support these life-changing experiences for children in a far-away country.

Landfill Harmonic is scheduled to be released in 2013. I suspect that many lives will be changed throughout and after its development.

The Recycled Orchestra
© Landfill Harmonic

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