A retired music teacher creates a youth orchestra for immigrant children in one of Atlanta’s most diverse communities
(Los Angeles, CA/date) – Over her 40-year teaching career, Juana Alzaga has maintained a tireless commitment to her students. She’s led many school orchestras, but the Buford Highway Orchestra Project is different. This orchestra is comprised of the children of Central and South American immigrants who’ve made new homes along north Atlanta’s Buford Highway, one of the most diverse corridors in the South. For most, this is their only opportunity for music education. “La Orquesta” follows Juana, an indomitable teacher and activist, and her students over the course of one school year. The film tells a moving 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.
A different kind of immigrant story, “La Orquesta” celebrates art, beauty and the transformative power of music. A joint presentation of POV SHORTS and VOCES SHORTS, “La Orquesta” is co-produced by Latino Public Broadcasting and produced and directed by Stephanie Liu and Monica Villacinencio; the film premieres as part of the POV SHORTS showcase premiering on Friday, November 25, 2025, (check local listings) on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS app, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast, and VIZIO.
About the Filmmakers
Stephanie Liu (Co-Director, Producer, Editor) is a Chinese-American filmmaker and the co-founder of Xerophile Studios, a production company dedicated to nonfiction storytelling. She’s fascinated by how stories shape our understanding of the world. Before making films, she worked at ABC News’ Washington bureau and the World Bank, where she produced videos from Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya and the Comoros. Born in Chengdu and raised in Mississippi and Tennessee, she now calls San Francisco home.
Monica Villavicencio (Co-Director, Producer, Editor) 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.
About VOCES
Produced by Latino Public Broadcasting, the acclaimed PBS documentary series VOCES features the best of Latino arts, culture and history and shines a light on current issues that impact Latino Americans. Devoted to exploring the rich diversity of the Latino experience, VOCES presents new and established filmmakers and brings their powerful and illuminating stories to a national audience — on TV, online and on the PBS app. Luis Ortiz is series producer; Sandie Viquez Pedlow is executive producer. Funding for VOCES is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS. Follow us on Facebook and X.
About POV Shorts
POV Shorts launched in 2018 as one of the first PBS series dedicated to bold and timely short-form documentaries. The series is known for its curation, and for broadcasting award-winning titles including: Emmy® nominated Earthrise, Water Warriors, The Changing Same, Emmy® award winners The Love Bugs, the Oscar® winning Days of Waiting, and the Oscar® shortlisted A Broken House and Aguilas. The series won Best Short Form Series at the IDA Documentary Awards in 2023, 2022 and 2020, with A Broken House winning Best Short in 2022. Series titles In the Absence, A Night at the Garden, 4.1 Miles, Joe’s Violin, and Hardwood have all been nominated for Oscar® awards.
About Latino Public Broadcasting
For over 27 years, Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB) has been developing award-winning film and digital media that explores the history, arts and culture of Latino Americans, bringing these powerful and illuminating stories to a national audience on PBS — on TV, online and on the PBS app.
LPB projects have spotlighted Latino contributions to the arts (Julia Alvarez: A Life Reimagined, John Leguizamo’s Road to Broadway, Raúl Julia: The World’s a Stage); told the story of Latino icons from Cesar Chavez to Dolores Huerta, Tito Puente to Celia Cruz, Ruben Salazar to Roberto Clemente; explored history and politics through a Latino lens (John Leguizamo’s American Historia, Latino Vote 2024); and told stories from Mexico, Puerto Rico and Latin America (Water for Life, Reportero), many as part of its signature PBS series VOCES.
LPB programs have won over 130 awards, including three prestigious George Foster Peabody Awards as well as Emmys, Imagen Awards and the Sundance Film Festival Award for Best Director, Documentary. LPB has been the recipient of the Norman Lear Legacy Award and the NCLR Alma Award for Special Achievement – Year in Documentaries. Sandie Viquez Pedlow is executive director of LPB; Edward James Olmos is co-founder and chairman.
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Contact:
CaraMar Publicity
Mary Lugo 770 851 8190 lugo@negia.net
Cara White 843 881 1480 cara.white@mac.com
For images and additional up-to-date information on this and other PBS programs, visit PBS PressRoom at pbs.org/pressroom.