THU, MAR 19, 2026, 6pm
Marroney Theatre / FREE
IN PERSON
»Children of Las Brisas website
Amidst a backdrop of poverty, murder, and corruption, the El Sistema youth orchestra offers children hope and the opportunity to pursue a life of art, despite the country’s spiraling collapse into political repression that threatens their dreams for a better life.
Filmed over a decade, this intimate coming of age documentary follows the lives of Edixon, Dissandra, and Wuilly, three resilient young musicians from the dangerous and violent suburb of Valencia, known as Las Brisas.
»Listen to performances by El Sistema musicians
“Individually and together, these young people and their families (especially the grandmothers) cling to the power of art to heal and transform their lives, against the harsh backdrop of Venezuela’s deteriorating government and economy.”
—INDEPENDENT LENS/PBS
“A tribute to those who fight day by day for a better future and who use art as an expression of resistance, wherever they lie on the political spectrum. Edixon, Dissandra, and Wuilly carry the feelings of a nation through the sound of their violins.”
—LATIN AMERICA BUREAU/UK
“These diverging destinies are like something from a 19th-century novel; Maldonado drops in a couple of extended shots of the fuel queues that, Alfonso Cuarón-style, feel freighted with history. Her film manages the rare feat of combining the intimate and the panoramic.”
—THE GUARDIAN