Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the third-largest city in Africa. Almost ten million people live here and they number among the poorest inhabitants on this planet. Kinshasa is the home of Central Africa’s one and only symphony orchestra. The award-winning documentary “Kinshasa Symphony”, directed by Claus Wischmann and Martin Baer, shows how people living in one of the most chaotic cities in the world have managed to forge one of the most complex systems of human cooperation ever invented: a symphony orchestra.
It is a film about the Congo, about the people of Kinshasa and the music they perform: Handel, Verdi, Beethoven. It tells the story of bread salesgirl Chantal, of electrician Joseph and others, of their daily lives in Kinshasa and their passion for music.
The film was followed by a Q&A with director Claus Wischmann.