The trailer for the documentary, “Kinshasa Symphony,” about the Kimbanguist Symphony Orchestra and Chior. The orchestra, named for a Congolese resistance leader, is based in Kinshasa, Congo’s capital.
The film, co-directed by Claus Wischmann and Martin Baer, premieres next week at the Berlin Film Festival.
I have been following the bands exploits online since the first photographic projects and clips of the Symphony appeared. I am definitely looking forward to its US premiere.
Via Solo Kinshasa
I am thrilled by the trailer for the movie Kinshasa Symphony, not because it shows people of the Congo adopting European music (though clearly an import) but because they have found a language that we can hear—because the ones limited by cultural and linguistic parochialism are ourselves! Most Africans speak multiple languages and observe many cultural traditions but perhaps the only way they can speak to our hearts is by crossing the divide using music we know. Congo is much more than another far away war zone with the chaos of unfamiliar faces and words. It is as close as our cell phones and the music in our ears.
Never underestimate the power of music.
Best wishes,
L.H.