Slovenia | Matevž Luzar | 2021 | 111 min

As the raucous members of a brass band get ready to travel to a small Austrian town for a performance, things start to go awry. Along the way, they sing, cheer, and drink. After all, being part of a brass band is a joyful hobby for most members. However, not everything is as it seems. Stories emerge: a first-time bus driver confesses his responsibility for an accident to an untrustworthy senior colleague; one band member cannot hide his shameful drinking from his kind Austrian host; a teenage band member on her first tour with dad witnesses her father’s adultery. These distinct but interconnected stories soon reveal that hiding one’s actions and intentions is the fastest and surest way to make them shameful! Offbeat and endearing, The Orchestra was selected as Slovenia’s official entry to this year’s Academy Award for Best International Film.

“Located somewhere between the black-and-white of Miloš Forman's Firemen's Ball and the bitter humour of Ulrich Seidl … Told with the distance of a participating observer and the heart of a passionate fellow traveller.” FilmFestival Cottbus