HOLLAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Nov. 7, 2022) – The International Relations Commission’s (IRC) annual Reel Time Film Series continues with Landfill Harmonic on Tuesday, November 15th, 2022 at 7pm at the Knickerbocker Theatre. Admission is free. This year’s film series is a partnership of the IRC and Hope College; Landfill Harmonic is co-hosted by the Holland Youth Advisory Council (HYAC).
About Landfill Harmonic
Environmental engineer Favio Chávez worked at a waste recycling project at Cateura, the largest landfill in Paraguay. Over 8 years, Chávez got to know the kids and families of the community, where more than 40% of children don’t finish school because they must work. Chávez decided to help the children by teaching them music lessons with the initial idea to keep the kids from playing in the landfill.
“The children knew nothing about music and it was very difficult to contact their parents because many of them were not living with their children,” said Chávez. Eventually, parents began to see that playing music was keeping their kids out of trouble, and some even reclaimed children they had previously abandoned.
Soon there were more children wanting lessons than there were instruments, so Chávez and Nicolás “Colá” Gómez, one of the garbage pickers, experimented with making some out of recycled materials from the landfill. String and wind instruments were made with oil tin cans, forks, bottle caps, wood from pallets, and whatever was around, making improvements over time to make the instruments sound better.
By 2011, Chávez and the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura had become the subject for a documentary by filmmakers Alejandra Amarilla and Juliana Penaranda-Loftus. A teaser for the film was released in 2012 and the story went viral, catapulting the orchestra into the global spotlight.
The film follows Chávez, Colá, and several musicians as they navigate a strange new world of arenas and sold-out concerts. However, when a natural disaster strikes their community, Chávez must find a way to keep the orchestra intact and provide a source of hope for their town.
Landfill Harmonic is a beautiful story about the transformative power of music and the resilience of the human spirit. It also highlights two vital issues of our times: poverty and waste pollution.
This is the first time that HYAC has partnered with the IRC for the Reel Time Film Series. HYAC selected Landfill Harmonic because of the student focus and the message of hope. HYAC member Hannah Huggett will introduce the film to the audience on November 15th.
