OPENING CREDITS Melody Jerez plays the violin inside of the Chonchi’s Church. Melody walks in slow motion in a Chonchi street. LOWER THIRD Melody Jerez Melody Jerez (VO) No one knew anything. Nothing about music. No one had anything. Melody when she is 10 years old walks through the street of Curanilahue. Montage of images of Melody’s past; Curanilahue houses, Curanilahue miner. A dad with a son in Curanilahue streets carrying a cart, pictures of Melody as a kid, the kids of the Orchestra and Melody rehearsing with a teacher. As we see all of this we continue to hear Melody’s voice over the images. Melody Jerez (VO) Not a single instrument. The only things in Curanilahue were coal, leaden skies, and soot. And I myself would have become leaden if it hadn’t been for that orchestra with almost no instruments. Melody plays the violin at age 10. TEXT CARD Melody Jerez became part of one of the first Youth Orchestras in Chile. Melody walks near the beach carrying her violin. Melody Jerez (VO) I needed a word to express that I missed something I had never known. Melody talks to camera at age 10. Melody Jerez “It was such a small instrument, and when I saw it, I liked it. I liked the way it sounded” LOWER THIRD Melody 1996. INSERT Image of a drawing of a violin. Children’s of the Curanilahue Orchestra play the violin. Melody Jerez (VO) There were only four violins. We took turns. Each of us played for fifteen minutes. Melody (at 10) plays the violin at her house. Melody Jerez (VO) In those fifteen minutes I felt like I was no longer the color of my city. Kids from the Curanilahue Orchestra play the violin. Melody Jerez (VO) The four violins turned into many. The Curanilahue Orchestra plays on a simple stage. Melody Jerez (VO) The little orchestra grew bigger. We were invited to play in Germany. I was fourteen years old, and I had never left Curanilahue. INSERT: Pictures of Melody at 14 years old playing as first violin of the Curanilahue Orchestra. Melody at her house playing the violin. Melody Jerez (VO) That’s why I cried, because[MR1] I sensed that music was going to be my life. Everytime I’m very happy I feel like crying. Georgina, 12 years old, walks out from her house. Georgina Ávila (VO) The word “Chonchi” means slippery land. LOWER THIRD Georgina Ávila. Georgina walks through various Chonchi landscapes. Georgina Ávila (VO) “Slippery” is a word that is everywhere. The fish that my father fishes are slippery[MR2] . Georgina gets down from a ship. Georgina plays the viola in her house while her mother pick up some wood and the little brother observes. The baby cries. Georgina Ávila. (VO) My brother’s tears are slippery[MR3] , when I wake him up with the sound of my viola in the single room that is our house. Georgina walks through the streets of Chonchi. Georgina Ávila (VO) I rehearse for hours at my school, so that I can play so well that my brother won’t have to cry ever again. Georgina plays inside a basketball court. Georgina Ávila (VO) When I play, I know how to say that I’m angry, that I’m sad, that I have a crush on someone. It’s as if it were a language that is more my language than the one I speak. Melody walks through the streets of Chonchi. Melody Jerez (VO) I had never heard the name Chonchi before I decided to live here. Melody crosses to the Island on a ship. Melody Jerez (VO) I had just graduated from college and was accepted as the conductor of this city’s Youth Orchestra, on a southern island of Chile. INSERT: Map of Chonchi and Chiloe’s Island. Melody receives Georgina and the rest of the children in the front of the Escuelita where they rehearse during the week. Melody Jerez (VO) I have 46 children in the orchestra. Melody rehearses with Chonchi’s Youth Orchestra and Georgina. Melody Jerez (VO) That’s where I saw Georgina. I saw her when I recognized that music is also her first tongue. INSERT: Pictures of Georgina with his dad, mom and siblings. Georgina Ávila (VO) There’s no work, my dad says. Never enough money to make ends meet, my mom says. From a car POV we see Chonchi’s street and then a very dry landscape where Georgina is headed up to the north of Chile. Georgina Ávila (VO) One day, my dad tells us we’re going up north. We slip out of this land to get to another where it never rains. Georgina walks around a desert landscape. Georgina Ávila (VO) Two thousand kilometers away from my orchestra. Georgina sitting down in the doorway of her house. Georgina in her bedroom with her brother. Georgina Ávila (VO) One month goes by. Then two months. Three, four. Am I going to forget the sound of the viola? INSERT A pentagram that fades away. Melody is outside a barn thinking about Georgina, she sees her reflection in the barn as Georgina walks in a desert landscape. Melody Jerez (VO) Six months go by. Her voice sounds drier each time. A voice with no vibration, a heart that doesn’t vibrate. Georgina is sitting down close to a stove staring the floor sad. The projection of Melody appears next to her, Georgina smiles. Georgina Ávila (VO) My teacher said, “Geo I talked to your parents“. You’re coming to live with me because I need you to keep playing the viola.” She[MR4] used the word ‘need’, and I liked that word. I told her: “I need it too.” Georgina runs and jump in happiness. Georgina hugs her mother and brother goodbye. The mother and the brother wave goodbye. Georgina inside a bus sees Melody waiting for her. They hug in joy. Georgina and Melody walk around Curanilahue. Melody Jerez (VO) Now, Geo lives with us.. Melody, Georgina and Aarón (Melody’s boyfriend and teacher of Cello at Chonchi’s Youth Orchestra) laugh sitting in their living room. Georgina (VO) What do you think about us living together? Melody (VO) You bring life to the house, you fill it with your space, you give it music, Melody and Georgina are talking on a boat. Melody you give it a smile . . . you give it everything that it was missing. Georgina and Melody smile at each other Georgina rehearsing Viola in her room. Chonchi’s Youth Orchestra rehearse at the Escuelita. Melody Jerez (VO) Out of more than 60 orchestras, ours is selected to play at Santiago’s Teatro Municipal. “It’s the most important concert hall in our country,” I tell the kids. The Orchestra says goodbye to their parents. The bus leaves to Santiago. Georgina falls asleep. Georgina Ávila (VO) The night before the concert, before falling asleep, I think: tomorrow will be the most exciting day of my life. Georgina and the rest of the kids takes pictures of the city of Santiago from the bus. Is the first time most of them have come to a big city. Georgina Ávila (VO) When I wake up, I think: today is the coolest[MR5] day of my life. Georgina and the rest of the Orchestra get down the bus and enter the Concert Hall “Teatro Municipal“. The kids take pictures excited to see the place. Melody talks to her children in the rehearsing areas of the theater. Melody Jerez (VO) I ask you: “Georgina, are you nervous?” Georgina is in the dressing room with the rest of the kids getting ready for the concert. Georgina Ávila (VO) “No, Aunt Melody.” Melody talks to her students giving instructions. Melody Jeréz (VO) “Are you sure, Geo?” Georgina awaits with the rest of the children tuning their instruments. Georgina Ávila I’m sure. Georgina tunes her instrument. Melody Jerez (VO) “Why?” Georgina Ávila Because I know my viola. Georgina and the rest of the Orchestra walks to the stage. The public stares at the Chonchi Youth Orchestra. The Orchestra plays. Melody conduces them. Georgina and the rest of the kids play with their heart following Melody’s lead. The Chonchi’s Youth Orchestra finish their presentation. The audience cheers them. Georgina looks happy as does Melody. They both walk holding each other smiling in joy. TEXT CARD Youth Orchestras in Chile provide free music education to more than 12,000 children each year. [MR1]It said I cried. [MR2]This is the exact translation [MR3]This is the exact translation [MR4]We change this in the last recording of the voices [MR5]Now it says most cool because it used to say most awesome. In Spanish she uses BAKAN, which is a slang between the young people, like dope or cool