By Natalia Rodriguez
Filmmaker Eugenia Renteria, founder of Inspira Studios in Watsonville, traveled with eight Pajaro Valley students participating in El Sistema music lessons on their trip to present a workshop at the prestigious 2024 International Society of Music Education Conference in Helsinki, Finland.
Aptos Times interviewed Eugenia Renteria about the trip and the documentary she plans.
What’s the origin story behind Inspira Studios?
Inspira Studios was founded almost eight years ago. At the time, I didn’t quite understand what I was trying to accomplish or this new adventure’s potential; I just knew I wanted to make films.
What was the inspiration behind the bilingual storytelling? Was it to fill a lack of representation?
We wanted to ensure that our stories resonate with and are accessible to the diverse community of Watsonville, which has a significant Spanish-speaking population.
My whole family is native Spanish speakers, so this choice made perfect sense, and I have not seen many local bilingual production companies.
Who from Inspira Studios went to Finland?
I went with cinematographer Carlos Campos.
How did Inspira Studios begin this journey with El Sistema to Finland?
Our documentary starts when El Sistema’s music director, Camilo Ortiz, tells the students they are going to Finland.
From there, we continued documenting as they had multiple rehearsals and all the travel preparations.
It was inspiring to see the students prepare for the trip of a lifetime; their excitement and nervousness add so much to the story as for some of them, it was their first time leaving the country.
How long was the trip to Finland? What was travel like?
The Finland trip was eight days. On the production side, traveling to Finland was an interesting experience.
We had to take a lot of film equipment and deal with customs in both countries, which was a first for us.
But it was also quite magical to capture some of the students’ experience of flying for the first time.
Are there any words from the kids or families?
The kids were beyond excited, and their performance was incredible. I wonder how this experience will shape their future in the years to come.
Were there any highlights, new experiences, or interesting stories from the trip?
It was great to experience the Happiest Country in the World and see their excellent access to transportation and one of the cleanest tap water in the world. It raised the bar of what we deserve as a society. I’m sure the students will be great advocates for better transportation and clean water access in the future.
Was the workshop in English, or translated?
The workshop was mainly in English, but we often heard Spanish and Finnish as most of the students from El Sistema are Latinos, and the students they collaborate with in Finland are Finnish.
When will the documentary on El Sistema come out?
We expect the documentary to be ready by the end of the year and will then start our festival rounds and have a few local screenings planned.
Is Inspira Studios currently working on any other projects?
Community Health Trust of Pajaro Valley will present a free screening of a film by Carlos Campos, Isabel Contreras, and Eugenia Renteria on inequity in health access in the Pajaro Valley and recognize solutions. This will be at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28 at CineLux Green Valley in Watsonville. Reservations required.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I feel very honored to be able to bring this story to the screen and want to thank El Sistema, the students, and their families for trusting me with this film.
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Photos are of Watsonville filmmaker Eugenia Renteria, documenting Pajaro Valley music students in El Sistema, invited to give a workshop in Finland.