Miami Film Festival Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 2007 Won Audience Award Best Documentary Alberto Arvelo Mendoza To Play and To Fight presents the captivating story of the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra System - an incredible network of hundreds of orchestras formed within most of Venezuela's towns and villages. Once a modest program designed to expose rural children to the wonders of music, the system has become one of the most important and beautiful social phenomena in modern history. The documentary portrays the inspirational stories of world class musicians trained by the Venezuelan system, including the Berlin Philharmonic's youngest player Edicson Ruiz and world renowned conductor Gustavo Dudamel. With interviews with many of the world's most celebrated musicians including the great tenor Placido Domingo, Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle, Guiseppe Sinopoli, and Eduardo Mata, To Play and To Fight is an inspirational story of courage, determination, ambition, and love showing us that... only those who dream can achieve the impossible.
