A new documentary reveals the transformative power that music brought to a poor community in South America stricken by devastation.

The Oscar-nodded film “Landfill Harmonic” screened this weekend at the Tallgrass Film Festival and carried with it a Kansas connection.

“Landfill Harmonic” follows the story of the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, a musical group composed of young, native Paraguayans who recycled trash into musical instruments and the groups launch into international stardom. The natives in the film live amidst a landfill in the city of Cateura, a community just outside Asunción, the capital of Paraguay.

For showcasing the film, all the Tallgrass Film Association needed was a sponsor.

“The Tallgrass Film Festival was seeking a sponsor for the film itself and since the film takes place in Paraguay, they contacted Kansas Paraguay Partners,” said Ann Burger, the associate director for study abroad and exchange programs at Wichita State.

But the setting wasn’t the only aspect that connected this film to Kansas.

The Recycled Orchestra emanates from a project supported by the Kansas Paraguay Partners, a local non profit, which carried donated instruments to Sounds of the Earth, a program that started in the early 2000’s by KPP members.  

Members of KPP took used musical instruments from Kansas to Paraguay for the Paraguay National Symphony in Asuncion.

Steve Richards, a member of the KPP board of directors, said Kansas Paraguay Partners has provided small support to the precursor of the Recycled Orchestra, Sounds of the Earth.

“For a number of years, Sounds of the Earth took used instruments and carried them down to Paraguay, and provided more than 50 instruments,” Richards said.

Over the years, he said, Sounds of the Earth has grown, and now more than 100 sites are located in Paraguay. The small city of Cateura is one of them.

“Cateura is one of the Sounds of the Earth sites that has, in essence, grown out of a program that [Kansas Paraguay Partners] has played a small role in. So there is a very direct connection,” Richards said.

Burger, a KPP member for the past three years, said the film has been aired on several television programs, including “60 Minutes.” Her hope is that people can see the Kansas connection that exists in the film and how something amazing can come from nothing.

Since 1968, KPP has linked Kansas and Paraguay together to develop understandings, a better way of life and to collaborate on projects that enhance education, health, cultural arts and emergency preparedness.

“I want people to see how something, very little of nothing — literally just trash — can create something that provides hope for the children and for the world,” Burger said.

 For Richards, the music aspect is fascinating.

“[The film] is a great story of some of the things I have been involved in, in terms of the way the arts can be used for motivation and encouragement for people with limited resources.”

He said, in a lot of ways, similar stories are playing out right here in Wichita.

“We just need to find those and look at how to encourage them,” Richards said.