Synopsis

Two hundred orchestral musicians are playing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony Freude schöner Götterfunken. A power cut strikes just a few bars before the last movement. Problems like this are the least of the worries facing the only symphony orchestra in the Congo. In the 15 years of its existence, the musicians have survived two putsches, various crises, and a war. But concentration on the music and hopes for a better future keep them going. *Kinshasa Symphony* is a study of people in one of the world’s most chaotic cities doing their best to maintain one of the most complex systems of joint human endeavour: a symphony orchestra. The film is about the Congo, the people in Kinshasa, and the power of music.

Director

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  • Klaus Wischmann
  • Klaus Wischmann studied piano and saxophone at Frankfurt University and law at Goethe University. Since 1999, he has directed over 35 documentaries.

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  • Martin Baier
  • Born in 1963 in Saarbrücken, Germany, Martin Baier graduated from the Berlin School of Optical and Photographic Technologies. Since 1989, he has worked as a cameraman, technical staff, and writer, mainly participating in documentary projects produced by German public broadcaster ZDF and Franco-German channel ARTE.