Underground Orchestra (1998)

This documentary profiles entertainers in the Paris Metro system, including an African vocal trio, a Venezuelan harpist, and a Yugoslavian violinist. A family of Romanian musicians (zither, accordion, violin) travel daily to separate locations, hoping to raise enough money to return home. With Paris Metro bombings came tightened security and a filming ban, so Dutch director Heddy Honigmann took her crew above ground to film street musicians -- a Vietnamese vocalist, an Argentine pianist, and a Zaire singer/deejay who fled a prison camp while a child. Detailing hardships and immigration problems, Honigmann also shot in seedy hotels, and immigrant living quarters and market sections. French and Spanish dialogue. Shown at the 1998 Rotterdam Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi