Underground Orchestra

Paris is one of the few cities that somehow always manages to steal the cinematic spotlight by becoming a character rather than a mere backdrop. In The Underground Orchestra (shot in 1998), Heddy Honigmann follows various asylum seekers from all over Europe, Africa and Asia who've moved to the city to start new lives and, in doing so, infuse Paris with the vibrant musical traditions of their homelands as street buskers. The result is a magical film, full of amazing performances by the overlooked inhabitants of street corners and subway trains. As a Polish Jew, Honigmann herself is a foreigner in the city and films it with the romantic eye of a visitor, observing innocuous comings and goings at off-peak hours, relishing rooftop views, stopping passersby to ask for translations and even getting booted out of the Metro by police while with her subjects.