''Landfill Harmonic'' (stylized as ''landillharmonic'') is a 2015 documentary film directed by Brad Allgood and Graham Townsley. It stars and tells the story of Paraguayan music teacher

Favio Chavez Favio Hernán Chávez Morán (born December 5, 1975), is an Argentinian musician, environmental technician, and director of the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, since 2012. He has served as director of the music school of Carapeguá and departmenta ...

and his

Recycled Orchestra of Cateura The Recycled Orchestra of Cateura ( es, Orquesta de Instrumentos Reciclados de Cateura), also known as the Recycled Orchestra, is an orchestra composed of children from Asunción, Paraguay who play musical instruments made from scrap materials ...

, a children's orchestra in

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

which performs with materials recycled from a trash landfill near

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of ...

. According to ''The Huffington Post'', " e film is both an exposé on the harsh conditions of slum life and a commentary on the global threats of consumption and waste".

Overview

The film details the founding and development of the

. When

Luis Szarán Luis Szarán (born 24 September 1953) is a Paraguayan musician, orchestra director, composer and musical researcher; since 2002, founder and director of the social and community integration program "'Sounds of the Earth''", which created the sc ...

and

came to

Cateura Cateura is the name of the landfill of Asunción, created in 1984 by the municipality of the capital of Paraguay, whose name comes from the Cateura lagoon, which is located near the property, private access, which has become landfill. Its name i ...

, a landfill located in

, 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. Now known as the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, the orchestra soon became independent. In 2012 it performed in Brazil and Colombia under Chavez's direction.

Release

The film debuted on March 18, 2015. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the film is shown on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

Reception

Ken Jaworoski of ''The New York Times'' gave the felt the film was "an inspiring tale" and the children involved in it were "wonderful to watch", though he criticized the interview style. John DeFore of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' called it " unlikely breakthrough story whose happy endings come with asterisks". This film was shortlisted for the Environmental Award at the 2015

Sheffield Doc/Fest Sheffield DocFest (formerly styled Sheffield Doc/Fest), short for Sheffield International Documentary Festival (SIDF), is an international documentary festival and Marketplace held annually in Sheffield, England. The Festival includes film sc ...

documentary festival, where it won a special mention.

Awards

* 2015 Winner, Audience Award – “24 Beats Per Second”, South By Southwest Film Festival * 2015 Winner, The Moving Mountains Prize (third place), Telluride Mountainfilm Festival * 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 * 2015 Special Mention, Environmental category, Sheffield Doc Festival 2015 * 2015 winner, VIFF Impact: International Audience Award,

Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Fest ...

Overview

Release

Reception

Awards

References

External links