Kinshasa Symphony Tunes Up At the New York African Film Festival

Central Africas only symphony orchestra is the Kinshasa Symphony, an orchestra of some 200 musicians in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and subject of a movie that opened the New York African Film Festival at Walter Reade Theater on April 7th. The documentary is a transport, the movie not just a story of classical musicians in a country where a 5-year civil war caused 3 million deaths, but evidence of art as tuff shed of ingenuity. Kinshasha musicians making musical instruments out of recycle carpentry, sharing instruments, taking turns at the violin. Pat one of my best girlfriends (happy birthday PB !! April 8) described it as generating that warm flood of audience feeling-  crowd stamping, rising, crying.  Music as goad to membership in the joyous human race – despite all hardships. I cant get you to the A train to Lincoln Center except by wishing so heres this post and if anybody has seen this please do send in some comments.