LA ORQUESTA

A retired music teacher sets out to create a youth orchestra in Georgia, the first of its kind for undocumented and mixed status families.

GALLERY

ABOUT THE FILM

Series: POV Shorts and VOCES Shorts

Co-Directors: Monica Villavicencio and Stephanie Liu

Genre: Documentary Short

Program Length: 22 min

Premiere Date: November 25, 2025.

Over her 40-year teaching career, Juana Alzaga has maintained a tireless commitment to her students. She’s led many school orchestras, but this one is different. The majority of her students’ families are undocumented immigrants from Central and South America who’ve made new homes along Buford Highway. For most, this is their only opportunity for music education.
La Orquesta follows Juana, an indomitable teacher and activist, and her orchestra over the course of one school year. Through cinéma vérité, intimate interviews and personal archival footage, the film tells the story of a community coming together to offer its children opportunities that should be accessible to all, even as they navigate health and financial challenges and
increasing hostility toward immigrants. La Orquesta offers a different kind of immigrant story, one that centers art, beauty and the transformative power of music.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

Monica Villavicencio (Director/Producer/Editor)

Monica Villavicencio is a documentary filmmaker in Atlanta and the co-founder of Xerophile
Studios, a production company specializing in nonfiction storytelling. She is passionate about
crafting narratives that expand our worlds and help us build intimacy with each other. In previous
incarnations, she was an NPR Kroc Fellow and has written and produced for public media, an
aviation-themed Filipino travel show, and the University of San Francisco, among others. She
studied literature and anthropology and also writes fiction.

Stephanie Liu (Director/Producer/Editor)

Stephanie Liu is a documentary director, editor and writer who is fascinated by how stories
shape our understanding of the world. After earning degrees in Economics and International
Relations, she produced media for the World Bank, ABC News and Twitter’s Live Video team.
These days, she is the co-founder of Xerophile Studios, a women-owned production company
that specializes in impactful nonfiction storytelling. Her work has been supported by the
Southern Documentary Fund, the Center for Cultural Innovation and Latino Public Broadcasting,
among others. Born in Chengdu, China and raised in the Mississippi and Tennessee, she now
calls San Francisco home.