SMALL WONDERS (a.k.a. FIDDLEFEST)

Her pint-sized teams play on the same court as the New York Knicks ? but she?s no athletic coach. Since 1980 Roberta Guaspari-Tzavaras, often overworked and underfunded, has split her time among three separate inner city elementary schools, teaching kids to persevere and excel at the violin, though they?re barely big enough to pick up the instrument. The Oscar-winning documentary filmmakers behind ?From Mao to Mozart? follow the movements of Guaspari-Tzavaras? Opus as she fine-tunes a class of awkward youngsters into a classical string ensemble who share the stage of Carnegie Hall with greats like Midori and Isaac Stern. Even viewers who consider themselves tone deaf can?t miss the joy of these children from the New York streets, and the pride of their parents, as they discover the discipline, beauty, and rewards of gang violins.