Pete Destil studies the flute with MAP mentor Gretchen Pusch in SOME KIND OF SPARK (photo by Ben Niles)
SOME KIND OF SPARK (Ben Niles, 2014)
SVA Theatre
333 West 23rd St. between Eighth & Ninth Aves.
Sunday, November 16, 2:00
Series runs November 13-20
www.docnyc.net
www.somekindofspark.com
Ben Niles’s Some Kind of Spark is a heartwarming and heartbreaking documentary about the importance of music education in children’s lives. Niles, whose award-winning 2007 film, Note by Note: The Making of Steinway L1037, detailed the care and craftsmanship that goes into the creation of a grand piano, this time goes inside Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program, “a Saturday instrument instruction program for highly talented children from backgrounds underrepresented in American performing arts.” Niles follows six kids, between the ages of eight and fourteen, as each one is mentored by a member of MAP’s staff of professional musicians during a three-year course. Violist Kara Charles, trombonist Rahman Amer, trumpeter Abdullah Amer (Rahman’s twin brother), flutist Pete Destil, singer and bassist Ami Kone, and percussionist Alejandro Cediel are shown studying with their teachers (including Bill Ruyle and Mike Truesdell on percussion, San San Lee on violin, Gretchen Pusch on flute, Lubima Kalinkova-Shentov on bass, and Paula Bing and Huang Ruo on music theory) and talking to their families about what they’re learning.
Niles concentrates almost exclusively on the music; he doesn’t delve deep into the kids’ personal lives, the families’ financial situations, or what else the children might be into. The focus is on the playing, on the studying, and, more important, on the practicing. “Make sure you refuse to be the guy who just gets the notes. Do something greater,” mentor Weston Sprott tells Rahman. The most fascinating part of the film centers on Pete and Gretchen; prior to the program, Pete had never even picked up a flute, and Gretchen isn’t afraid to get tough with him if he’s not properly prepared, especially after a summer in which the young boy couldn’t practice at all because he can’t afford his own instrument. The tension builds as the kids decide whether to audition for a third year at MAP, try to make the Juilliard Pre-College Orchestra, or apply to LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. Some Kind of Spark is a truly inspiring film that never gets overly sentimental, instead revealing, with brutal honesty, the challenges these kids face, because the path they have chosen is not an easy one. But seeing their eyes shine as they experience music in so many different ways makes it all worth it. Some Kind of Spark is having its world premiere November 16 at the SVA Theatre in the Metropolis competition of the fifth annual DOC NYC festival, with Niles, editor Sara Pellegrini, and select cast members present to talk about the film. The festival runs November 13-20 and consists of more than 150 documentaries, panel discussions, and workshops at Bow Tie Chelsea Cinemas, the IFC Center, and the SVA Theatre.