Film screening of ‘Benda Bilili’ in aid of GCT’s Malawi projects

Yester Community Movie Association in Gifford are showing the film Benda Bilili on 18 January 2013 to raise funds for GCT’s Malawi projects.

About the film: Benda Bilili – ‘Look Beyond Appearances’ is a Congolese film which tells the story of the rise to fame of a group of inspirational paraplegic street musicians.

“Staff Benda Bilili are a group of Congolese buskers who gather beneath the acacia trees in Kinshasa zoo, where they dream of stardom and a mattress to call their own. This amiable documentary shows how they get there, trailing a ramshackle alliance of middle-aged paraplegics and street kids as they wend their way from African slum to European concert hall. If the journey feels a little stage-managed at times, the film’s exuberant side-notes more than make amends, as the music itself plays out as an exuberant blend of blues and African rumba. It’s the noise of the discarded: picked up, brushed down and made precious again.” The Guardian

Find out more and view the trailer here.

Doors open at 7.30pm, at Gifford Village Hall, Gifford, East Lothian.