Landfill Harmonic

Landfill Harmonic (stylized as landfillharmonic) is a 2015 documentary film directed by Brad Allgood and Graham Townsley.[2] It stars and tells the story of Paraguayan music teacher Favio Chavez and his Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, a children's orchestra in Paraguay which performs with materials recycled from a trash landfill near Asuncion.

Landfill Harmonic
Directed by
  • Brad Allgood
  • Graham Townsley
Produced byJuliana Peñaranda-Loftus
Story byAlejandra Amarilla (story concept by)
StarringAda Ríos, Jorge Ríos, Tania Vera Hertz, Idalina Hertz, María Ríos, Esteban Irrazabal, Nicolás Gómez, Favio Chávez
Music byMichael A. Levine
Cinematography
  • Neil Barrett
  • Tim Fabrizio
  • Brad Allgood
Edited byBrad Allgood
Production
company
Distributed byThe Film Collaborative
Release date
  • 18 March 2015 (2015-03-18) (SXSW)
  • 18 August 2016 (2016-08-18) (Paraguay)
Running time
84 min
Country
  • USA
  • Paraguay[2]
LanguageSpanish, English, Guaraní

The film debuted on March 18, 2015,[3] and currently holds a 100% approval rating on Rottentomatoes.com.[4]

According to The Huffington Post, "[t]he film is both an exposé on the harsh conditions of slum life and a commentary on the global threats of consumption and waste".[5]

Production

When Luis Szaran and Favio Chavez came to Cateura to start a music school, they realized that they had more students than instruments. Thanks to the resourcefulness of Cola, a Cateurian garbage picker, an orchestra came together, now featuring violins, cellos, and other instruments artfully put together from trash. Los Reciclados de Cateura, now an independent orchestra, recently performed in Brazil and Colombia under Chavez’s direction.[6]

Alejandra Nash says: "I was born in Asuncion, Paraguay. I dreamed of the opportunity to help my country in a creative way; a way of bringing awareness to issues that revolve around children and women in Paraguay, so the idea of a documentary became the first seed. I contacted Juliana, who I met through a friend, and knowing she is a producer we started our research. During that phase, I met with Luis Szaran, the director of a non profit organization (Sounds of the Earth) that brings music schools to the poorest areas in Paraguay. Los Reciclados story instantly took my breath away. Since then we have gone to Cateura, Paraguay several times filming the children and Cola, who all live there. Cola is the luthier, the sweet and humble garbage picker who makes those wonderful instruments for the children. Favio Chavez is the director and heart of the orchestra. His love and commitment to these children is fascinating"

Juliana Penaranda-Loftus: "We heard a story about an orchestra that was put together using recycled garbage in April of 2009, it was during our first research trip to Paraguay. In the summer 2010, Alejandra and I came back with director of photography and friend Tim Fabrizio. We arrived to do some initial filming in order to produce a trailer. During that trip, we met the first group of children who were part of the recycled Orchestra, those children are now playing with professional Orchestras. We have been following this story since then. We went back in 2011 and have gone twice in 2012. Now there is a new group of children that have joined the orchestra. We have witnessed the commitment that Favio Chavez (orchestra director) has towards these children of Cateura, their families and their community. There is a whole social process that happens behind running the orchestra. We have developed very strong ties with them during these years and this is a story that goes way beyond the screen"

Reviews

The film has been given good reviews by noted film critics such as Ken Jaworoski of The New York Times, who (apart from criticizing the documentary's interview style) said that it was "an inspiring tale" and the children involved in it "wonderful to watch".[7] The Hollywood Reporter's John DeFore, called it "[a]n unlikely breakthrough story whose happy endings come with asterisks".[8]

Run at film festivals

This film was shortlisted for the Environmental Award at the 2015 Sheffield Doc/Fest documentary festival,[9] where it won a special mention.[10]

U.S. showings

In the United States, the film is shown on HBO.[11]

Awards
  • 2015 Winner, Audience Award – “24 Beats Per Second”, South By Southwest Film Festival [12]
  • 2015 Winner, The Moving Mountains Prize (third place), Telluride Mountainfilm Festival[13]
  • 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[14]
  • 2015 Special Mention, Environmental category, Sheffield Doc Festival 2015[15]
  • 2015 winner, VIFF Impact: International Audience Award, Vancouver International Film Festival[16][17]
gollark: I don't know.
gollark: It's literally selecting for maximum abuse of psychology (well, up to a point).
gollark: Yes, exactly.
gollark: Do they actually *care* though?
gollark: The aim is basically to just associate warm fuzzy feelings with you and bad feelings with your opposition through chains of connections.

References
  1. "Landfill Harmonic [programme note]". Doha Film Institute. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  2. "Landfill Harmonic [programme note]". Vancouver International Film Festival. 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  3. "Unofficial Guide to South By Southwest 2015: Landfill Harmonic". 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  4. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/landfill_harmonic/
  5. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/12/landfill-harmonic-movie-kickstarter-project_n_3063808.html]]
  6. http://matadornetwork.com/change/landfill-harmonic-a-story-of-creativity-hope-and-endurance-interview
  7. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/09/movies/landfill-harmonic-review.html?_r=0
  8. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/landfill-harmonic-film-review-926340
  9. Mathiesen, Karl (5 June 2015). "Sheep, Mexican farmers and Shinto priests vie for green film award". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  10. Rosser, Michael (10 June 2015). "'Syrian Love Story' wins Sheffield Doc/Fest prize". Screen International. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  11. http://www.hbo.com/schedule/on-demand?category=PMRS14242&subCategory=PMRS14244&focusId=795179
  12. "SXSW Film Festival Announces 2015 Audience Award Winners" (PDF) (Press release). SXSW Film. 21 March 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  13. Katie Klingsporn (25 May 2015). "Mountainfilm 2015: Festival Awards". Telluride Inside... and Out. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  14. Sara Tekula (2015-06-08). "2015 Maui Film Festival Audience Award Winners Announced". Maui Film Festival. Retrieved 2015-10-20.
  15. "Sheffield Doc/Fest 2015 Award Winners". Retrieved 2015-10-20.
  16. "Brooklyn Wins VIFF Rogers People's Choice Award" (Press release). Jive Communications. 2015-10-09. Retrieved 2015-10-18.
  17. 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.
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