AFS Presents: Crescendo: The Power of Music

DIRECTED BY JAMIE BERNSTEIN

Jamie Bernstein, USA, 2014, DCP, 85 min.

Since its foundation in 1976, Venezuela’s youth orchestra education program El Sistema has brought radical social transformation to the poor and underprivileged there, and along the way produced world class musical talents including conductor Gustavo Dudamel. This new documentary takes us into the lives of three children participating in El Sistema inspired programs in New York and Philadelphia. We see their challenges and their triumphs as they learn how to find a balance in their lives between family, school and their demanding music regimens. An uncommonly rich and thoughtful look at arts education.