THE CHORUS screening

Sometimes the people who change our lives are the ones who’ve lost their way themselves.

That’s a message in “The Chorus,” a French film that’s enchanted audiences around the world with its beauty, honesty and soaring choral performances.

Join us at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, at Rondout Valley United Methodist Church, 25 Schoonmaker Lane in Stone Ridge, for this emotionally rich story of hope, healing and the quiet power of compassion.

Clément Mathieu is a failed composer taking a job he never wanted — supervising troubled boys at a harsh boarding school in postwar France.

The headmaster rules through punishment. The boys have given up hope.

But Mathieu hears something no one else does: potential.

When he forms a choir with these “unreachable” students, their voices — and their lives — transform.

Critics almost universally praise this film, which earned 12 critic and festival awards and was nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film:

“Enchantingly beautiful and moving.” — Claudia Puig, USA Today
“Infused with nostalgia, optimism and authenticity.” — Doris Toumarkine, Film Journal International
“Delivers its uplifting message with succinctness, sincerity and skill.” — William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Want a preview? Watch the trailer: tinyurl.com/TheChorus-MoviesWithSpirit

I hope you’ll join us for this moving celebration of artistic expression, second chances and the lasting impact of a teacher who chooses inspiration over punishment.

And bring a friend who could use a little music in their soul.