Kinshasa Symphony

Two hundred orchestral musicians are playing Orff’s “Carmina Burana” in total darkness. A power cut has hit the Ngiri Ngiri district of Kinshasa, only a few bars before the last section of the work. Kinshasa’s power stations and main networks are insufficient to supply electricity to all the 8 million inhabitants of what is Africa’s third-largest city. Once again the lights have gone out in the “Salle des fêtes”, a kind of open garage where the orchestra practises. But for its members this is no reason to stop rehearsing. Most of them know their parts by heart. Small lapses of memory are compensated for by a talent for improvisation and the grace of God.

Festivals and Awards

Berlin Film Festival, Germany, 2010
Visions du Réel International Documentary Film Festival, Nyon, Switzerland, 2010
Open Doek Film Festival, Turnhout, Belgium, 2010 – Special Mention
International Documentary Film Festival Flahertiana, Perm, Russia, 2002 – Special Jury Mention
Bolzano Film Festival, Italy, 2011 – the Award for Best Documentary and Audience Award
RiverRun International Film Festival, Winston-Salem, USA, 2011 – Audience Award
Image et Vie Film Festival, Dakar, Senegal, 2011 – the Award for Best Documentary

Claus Wischmann

Claus Wischmann is an author, director and executive director at “sounding images”. After studying the piano he wrote and directed over forty documentaries and television features; he has also recorded concerts and made documentary portraits. His films, many of them are about music, have been shown at such prestigious international festivals and competitions as Fipa and Golden Prague and have won many awards.

Selected Filmography

A Voice out of the Cold: Vivica Genaux / Vivica Genaux – Stimme aus der Kälte (2004)
Wagner's Master Singer, Hitler's Siegfried - The Life and Times of Max Lorenz / Wagners Meistersänger, Hitlers Siegfried - Auf den Spuren von Max Lorenz (2008)
The Art of Belcanto – Edita Gruberova / Edita Gruberova - Die Kunst des Belcanto (2009)

Martin Baer

Martin Baer is a cinematographer, author and director. He has made numerous television features and documentaries and has also filmed many opera productions, concerts and stage plays. As an author, director and cinematographer his documentaries mainly focus on historical topics and on Africa. Additionally, Martin Baer is the author of several texts about Africa's history, including Headhunting – Germans in East Africa.

Selected Filmography

Free Africa! / Befreien Sie Afrika! (1999)
Headhunting / Eine Kopfjagd (2001)
White Ghosts – The Colonial War against the Herero / Weisse Geister – der Kolonialkrieg gegen die Herero (2004)

Information

Directors: Claus Wischmann, Martin Baer  
Scriptwriter: Claus Wischmann
Cinematography: Martin Baer
Music: Jan Tilman Schade  
Sound: Pascal Capitolin
Film Editing: Peter Klum  
Producers: Stefan Pannen, Holger Preuße
Production: sounding images, WDR, RBB
Germany, 2010, 95 min.