"Jewel of the Desert,” a documentary that embraces the stories of 38 instrumentalist, ages 70 to 91, and their decades of music, has morphed into a spiritual affair built on trust, admiration and respect between the film’s director and the Desert Brass Band’s founder and conductor. The film is now a contender in 26 different international film festivals.

The documentary recently returned to its roots and has been rereleased at the Fat Cat Entertainment Center and Theater, 13100 N. Prasada, through Thanksgiving. For more information on movie times call the theater at 623-231-2610, option 2, or view the movie listings online

To date, the film has received two best documentary feature film nominations from the Berlin Film Festival and the 27th annual Arpa Foundation for Film, Music, and Art’s International Competition in Los Angeles. The film premiered in August in Los Angeles and is a contender for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Oscars in 2025. It has been submitted to the Sundance Film Festival and is now being considered for Amazon, Apple, Netflix and other media outlets.

The film has an inimitable history, not born out of the angst of war or poverty like many documentaries, but out of love and hope that young musicians will see music as the foundation of their future.

The director/producer Mary Apick recently discussed the path she traveled to Surprise that led to the creation of the film.

“A few years ago, I was in Surprise visiting my dear friend Col. Bill Fedor and his family,” she said in a telephone interview from her home in Los Angeles. “Bill, who was the energy behind the band’s creation, invited me to a concert and I recorded it on my phone. I was so moved, I returned to Los Angeles, put together a team and the film grew into this magnificent testimonial to all the musicians who have showcased music as a sliver of their lives. Bill made this all happen.”

Apick fashioned a screen play out of whole pieces, filmed by as many as 16 cameras to create the one-hour documentary. She captured the essence of decades of eclectic musical styles that coalesced in 1998 when a group of brass players from the Sun City Concert Band created a sound called the Desert Brass Band under the direction of Maestro Charles Musgrave. The conductor and the documentarian, who also is an actor and winner of the Moscow International Film Festival Best Actress Award, met in 2022 and what followed was a series of meetings, interviews and filmed performances that Apick sliced, trimmed and clipped into a feature-length documentary.

“I wanted to make a film on the legacy of all the members of the band specially for young people who will be inspired by this film,” she said.

The film portrays the band members evolution from that first-grade school band or just learning to play an instrument to a musical career, or not; the band is made up of a wide-ranging compendium of retired educators, career professionals and of course professional musicians who metaphorically used music to define their years. And for the members, regardless of the musical roads traveled, there always will be venues like the Desert Brass Band for them to fulfill their passion to play music.

And that is the hope for generations of young musicians yet to come, those just starting in a band somewhere in America, that when they reach their rusty years and that tuba is a little heavier to hold, there will be a venue for them to join just for the love of music.

The film is being viewed in the United States and Europe and soon will be submitted to schools and universities worldwide, “So that it reaches the people it was destined for: future musicians,” the director said.