The Children of Cateura

A community. A landfill. An orchestra of hope.

Instruments from what others throw away

On the outskirts of Paraguay’s capital, Asunción, a mountain of garbage dominates the horizon. In Cateura, a neighborhood bordering one of the country’s largest landfills, children grow up surrounded by poverty, violence, and limited opportunities for the future. Many families make a living sorting through other people’s waste. Yet in this unlikely place, something extraordinary has emerged: a music school and an orchestra where children and teenagers play instruments made from discarded materials. Violins from paint cans, cellos from oil drums, violas from baking trays, forks, and spoons.

The film follows six children and teenagers over several months, sharing their everyday lives between family, school, and orchestra rehearsals. Their life stories are as different as their dreams. Alexander finds a place in music where he feels accepted, after experiencing bullying and violence as a child. Maximilian wants to show the world that his neighborhood is more than poverty and crime. Ayelen, who is growing up with her grandmother, dreams of studying music in Europe one day. Analia, Yoseline, and Mathias are each searching for their own place in life, for independence, recognition, and a future they can shape themselves.

Music gives them strength and opens up opportunities that are far from guaranteed in their everyday lives. Suddenly, one of those opportunities comes within reach: the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura is preparing for a three-month European tour. But not everyone can go. While some leave Paraguay for the first time, board an airplane, and perform on major European stages, others stay behind, disappointed but still hoping for another chance.

For those who travel, it is an encounter with an unfamiliar world. They experience the European winter, the hospitality of strangers, and the applause of audiences in magnificent concert halls. But they also experience homesickness and the feeling of being caught between two worlds. After three months, they return to Paraguay, to an everyday life that has barely changed. Yet the way they see their own future has changed.

One of the film’s central figures is instrument maker Wilson López. Growing up in poverty himself, he spent periods of his life sleeping on the streets. His violin was his constant companion. Today, he transforms scraps of wood, metal, and discarded everyday objects into

instruments for a new generation of children. To him, each instrument is far more than an object. It is an opportunity to open a door to the world for a child.

The film does not portray its protagonists as victims of their circumstances, but as young people with their own ideas about who they are and where they want to go. It tells stories of their families, solidarity and friendship, disappointments and new experiences. And of people who refuse to be defined by what they lack.

The Children of Cateura. Music from Trash is a film about dignity, belonging, and empowerment. About the power of music to bring people together and change the way they see their own lives.

“The world sends us trash. We send back music.”
Motto of the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura