Golden Prague → 2009 → Highlights → El Sistema – "Play, but with your heart, not your head!"

Sunday, June 14, 2009 at 14:00, in the Small Hall at Žofín

Venezuela's unique system of music education takes children from violent, economically depressed slums and turns some of them into world class musicians.

"El Sistema" shows how Venezuelan visionary Jose Antonio Abreu has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of children over the past three decades.

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 dominated by the gun battles of gang warfare are taken into music schools, given access to music and instruments, and taught how to build a better society through the model of a symphony orchestra.

The story, which has all the makings of a fairytale, is the extraordinary account of a vision that has become reality. Several of the system's young graduates now rank among the most coveted young talent in Europe – the most preeminent among them being the 26-year-old conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the double bass player Edicson Ruiz, who at the age of 17 became the youngest musician ever to join the Berlin Philharmonic.

Paul Smaczny and Maria Stodtmeier's film finds hope and joy in unlikely places. The film El Sistema shows how Abreu's astonishing ideas have led the way out of the vicious circle of poverty - and how the power of music has been able to change the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people.

The special screening takes place on Sunday, June 14, 2009 at 14:00, in the Small Hall at Žofín.