No. 75 · Documentary Feature
Now, The Women Play!
Ahora Tocan Ellas !
Directed by Sara Silvia Kochen
Argentina · 1 h
Three young women belonging to humble families achieve to become in consecrated music breaking class and gender barriers, make music become their way of life. They since childhood began their studies in Children's and Youth Orchestras Program, which teaches music in the poorest neighborhoods.
Streams 21 September 2026 to 28 September 2026, Berlin time. Every ticket is one Audience Award vote.
Trailer
About the film
Jessica, Cecilia and Dafne, belonging to humble families, they achieve to become in consecrated music breaking the class and gender barriers imposed by society, make music become their way of life. The three since childhood, they began their studies in the Children's and Youth Orchestras Program, which teaches music through the execution of instruments, in the public schools of the poorest neighborhoods, where the protagonists lived. Through their testimonies, together with file and current records of their performance as music and teachers, they describe how the Program, such as the perseverance and individual achievements of each of them.
- Runtime
- 1 h
- Category
- Documentary Feature
- Country
- Argentina
- Year
- 2025
- Language
- Spanish
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9
Stills
Sara Silvia Kochen
Degree, PhD in Audiovisual Arts from the National University of the Arts (UNA), 2020 - Principal researcher , Area Neurosciences, CONICET (Researcher, National Council of Scientific and Technology Research), 1984 - Director Executing Unit Neurosciences and Complex Systems (ENyS) dependent on CONICET, Prov. Buenos Aires, 2014 - (CVar : CV full) https://cvar.sicytar.mincyt.gob.ar/eva//indexCV.do?idModulo=1&idGrupo=0&idMenu=0 Documentary Feature Film - Director, screenwriter and producer "Sara Méndez", April 2020 - Director, screenwriter and producer “First line of fire. Honor and gratitude”, 2021 - Director and screenwriter with Emiliano Serra, "Medicinal Cannabis", 2023
Director, screenwriter and producer “Now, The Women Play!”, 2025
— Director’s statement
I was born in a working-class neighborhood in southern Buenos Aires, the first in my family to attend university, and the granddaughter of Jewish immigrants who fled persecution seeking refuge. A secular education taught me to dream without walls or chains. In the 1970s, I joined the social movement, driven by the conviction to transform reality. I have fought—and continue to fight—for a just, equitable, compassionate society, where freedom of thought, creativity, and joy are inalienable rights. These ideals are the roots sustaining my life and work. This documentary, "NOW, THE WOMEN PLAY!", was born from a desire to tell the stories of its protagonists—stories that inspire because they are, above all, a celebration of life. They reveal how, through art and music, these women forged a life different from the one they had imagined, or others had imagined for them. Its arrival was unexpected, startling, at times strange.
Credits
- Directed by
- Sara Silvia Kochen
- Written by
- Sara Silvia Kochen
- Produced by
- Sara Silvia Kochen
- Production company
- Independent
- Cinematography
- Juan Pablo Chillon
- Editing
- Emiliano Serra
- Sound
- Jose Calderaro
- Principal cast
- Jessica Juárez, Contrabajista Cecilia Fernández, Flauta traversa Dafne Pugliese, violinista Claudio Espector, Fundador y Director del Proyecto Orquestas Infantiles y Juveniles, pianista Lorena Pantano, madre de Dafne Joëlle Perdaens, Profesora de violín, violinista experta música barroca
— Festivals and awards
- Award Winner Documentary Feature, Festival The Impact DOCS Awards, 2026 - Award Winner, Festival Edinburgh Film Awards, 2026 - Semi Finalist, Festival Tokyo Women Film Festival, 2026 - Semi Finalist, Dublin International Film Awards, 2026 - Semi Finalist, Oslo Independent Film Festival - Semi Finalist, Festival Frames of Newyork Festival, 2026 - Award of Merit: Women Theme, The IndieFest Film Awards, 2026 - Award Winner, Festival Cine Vista Oasis, 2026 - Finalist for the Best Women Film, Chalachitra International Film Awards, 2026 - Semi Finalist, Dublin International Film Awards, 2026 - Award Winner, Golden FEMI Film Festival, 2026 - Select Festival Internacional del Cine y la Mujer, Panorama Nacional, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2026 - Select Festival Internacional de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2026
Now, The Women Play! is part of the Official Selection of the BIUFF Founding Edition 2026.
