Woodstock, NY: Explorart Films announced that the North American premier of the memorable documentary Tocar y Luchar (“To Play and To Fight”) will be held at the 30th annual meeting of the prestigious Montreal World Film Festival. The documentary was accepted as official selection to the “Documentaries of the World” section of the festival. The Montreal World Film festival will take place between August 24th to September 4th in Montreal, Canada. Tocar y Luchar is a powerful documentary about the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra Network, considered by many to be the most successful youth orchestra system in the world.

“We are delighted to be invited to premier this inspiring documentary at the Montreal Film Festival. We believe Montreal to be the perfect place to initiate the North America tour of Tocar y Luchar, said Nestor L. Lopez, vice-president of Explorart and one the producers of the film. Dr. Lopez added, “We hope that this documentary will have a real impact on the status of music education around the world and our participation at the Montreal World Film Festival will greatly facilitate our efforts in disseminating this wonderful story.”

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. To Play and To Fight presents interviews and performances by many of the world’s most renowned musicians including the great tenor Placido Domingo, Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle, Guiseppe Sinopoli, and Eduardo Mata, as they reflect on the impact of such a far-reaching social project. The documentary also presents the inspirational stories of world class musicians who have been trained by the Venezuelan system, including The Berlin Philharmonic’s youngest player Edicson Ruiz and world class conductor Gustavo Dudamel.

The documentary was produced by Venezuelan production companies Cinema SUR and Explorart Films with support from the Venezuelan National Youth Orchestra and the Venezuelan Autonomous National Center for Cinematography. It was directed by international award winning filmmaker Alberto Arvelo and edited by Explorart’s President Juan Carlos Lopez-Duran. The cinematography was provided by famed Polish/Venezuelan director of photography Cezary Jaworski.