Across the River

Location: The Tonga village of Siachilaba in Zimbabwe. As always: Michael Pilz is omnipresent and invisible with his camera. He shows long and often the crowd in all its rapidly moving details, the sometimes deafening noise, the colors, a chicken pecking in the clay and a skinny dog ​​trying to fall asleep. But the camera also tells a story that begins almost casually and then becomes more and more convincing: a group of musicians from Austria visits the place for four days as part of a cultural exchange in order to meet old masters of Tonga music and learn about the current practices of the Get to know the practice of music. Of course at eye level. There is an unspoken culture clash. Music plays such a different role in both cultures that it does not seem to be the same medium. The eye level changes. The Tongas have the home advantage. (Birgit Flos)

Photo: Austrian Film Museum