This inspiring film, subtitled “music to change life”, takes us behind the scenes of the worldwide phenomenon of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela as it portrays the extraordinary story of El Sistema and how it operates from day to day from one of its many nuclei in one of the poorest parts of Caracas. Gustavo Dudamel and his dynamic orchestra are the outward manifestation of these music centres which were started back in 1975. Their founding father is José Antonio Abreu, composer, conductor and politician, who cuts an almost mystical figure in this stunningly photographed film by Paul Smaczny and Maria Stodtmeier. Working every hour that God has given, Abreu and his co-founder Frank de Polo and their dedicated and gifted staff have been teaching and performing music using traditional principles with the underprivileged and the handicapped. When one of his team queries such long hours, he replies, “there’ll be enough time in eternity”. They’re supported by selfless parents and the other stars of this film, the children with their twinkling eyes and raven black hair. Their enthusiasm is infectious and poignant. Early on in the film we learn of the stark reality of their background: the gang culture, drug dealers and tatty environment. No wonder they regard rehearsals as a haven from the violence of the street and the cramped conditions of home. They’re practical, too: asked what he’d like to pursue as a profession, a boy puts music third, after IT and being a neurosurgeon. Individual children are highlighted: a young boy blows the opening trumpet call of Mahler’s Third without a blemish, a girl conducts Tchaikovsky with evident musical flair. Other scenes highlight Steffen Herrmann’s finely tuned editing, camera work and the beautifully chosen music for the soundtrack. A bird hovers high at dawn over hilly terrain before swooping down on Caracas to Ravel’s Sunrise from Daphnis et Chloé. Boy trumpeters, impromptu-like, break into a carnival ditty after rehearsal, a dedicated parent rises at dawn to prepare her son for the day ahead, a choir sings a lullaby at twilight before the camera cuts to the streets at night where a gunshot might maim or kill a vulnerable passer-by. El Sistema comes with several awards to its name. Surely it can’t be long before its remarkable founder Abreu is the recipient of a prize for peace?