Underground Orchestra

In her new film subtitled "Music and Melancholy," Heddy Honigmann (O Amor Natural) goes to Paris to find another source for her wonderful revelations. In the tunnels of a Metro station, Honigmann's handheld camera discovers a strangely serene Peruvian man plucking a giant harp. The music seems to come from somewhere else, somewhere far away. So Honigmann keeps searching. She talks to accordionists, violinists, tribal singers, people who have come from all parts of the globe. Their tales are a survey of the troubles of contemporary history-civil war, social dislocation, genocide, concentration camps-and in each case, music has been key to their survival. The music they create tells of their deepest longings and also speaks to ours.

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