Oscar-Nominated Music Documentary VIVA VERDI! Now Available to Stream
The film is currently nominated for Best Original Song at the 2026 Academy Awards.
By: Josh Sharpe Jan. 30, 2026
The music documentary VIVA VERDI! is now streaming on the streaming platform Jolt, a service tailored to independent filmmakers. The suggested ticket price to rent the film is $15.
The film, which is a glimpse into the lives of elderly opera singers and musicians at the Milan retirement home Casa Verdi, is currently nominated for Best Original Song at the 2026 Academy Awards.
The original song, “Sweet Dreams of Joy,” an aria composed by Emmy Award–winner Nicholas Pike, and performed by soprano Ana María Martínez, earned the Academy Award nomination.
Directed by Yvonne Russo and produced by Christine La Monte, p.g.a., Yvonne Russo, p.g.a., and the late Ron Simons—marking his final film—VIVA VERDI! takes place at Casa Verdi, the retirement home founded by composer Giuseppe Verdi in Milan in 1896. The feature documentary follows residents aged 77 to 107 as they continue to perform, teach, and mentor 16 international young music students who live among them.
The film premiered at the Woodstock Film Festival, with the West Coast premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and also screened at Toronto’s HOT DOCS' Doc Soup and premiered theatrically at Laemmle’s Theaters' Monica Film Center on October 3, 2025.
Watch the trailer below:
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