Children of Las Brisas

Filmed over nine years, Marianela Maldonado follows the intertwining lives of a group of children from the Venezuelan barrios, as they struggle to become professional musicians in a country on the verge of collapse.

An ambitious, state-funded national orchestra programme offers a lifeline to three talented kids from the impoverished neighbourhood of Las Brisas. Filmmaker Marianela Maldonado continues to follow their progress, through years of arduous practice, disrupted homelives and mounting economic pressure. Her intimate, observational portrait perfectly places real Venezuelan lives in the context of a country hurtling towards breaking point.