October 27 is the release date for the Blu-ray edition of '
El Sistema: Music to Change Life', an award-winning documentary on Venezuela's El Sistema music education foundation for social improvement, founded three decades ago by José Antonio Abreu. On October 26, Abreu will receive the Glenn Gould Prize in Toronto, at a gala concert which will feature the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela in their Canadian debut.
A film by Paul Smaczny and Maria Stodtmeier, 'El Sistema' takes us from the
barrios of Caracas and Maracay to the concert hall of the Lucerne Festival, following the lives of children who have found the way to a better future through the model of the symphony orchestra. The film earned several awards like the “Grand Prix” of the Golden Prague Festival, and the “Special Jury Prize” in the category "Feature Length Film Awards" and the “Feature Film Competition Award” in the category "The Ecofilms Team Awards" of the Rodos Ecofilms Festival.