El Gusto (2011)

El Gusto image

El Gusto (2011)

Directed by Safinez Bousbia, 88 min
Depth of Field Film + Video
The Magnes Auditorium, 2121 Allston Way

Filmaker Safinez Bousbia tells the story of an orchestra of Jewish and Muslim musicians torn apart 50 years prior by the Algerian War and recently reunited for an exceptional concert.

After the Algerian Independence in 1962, Jewish musicians fled to France while the Muslim musicians who remained became scattered throughout the vast city of Algiers, lost to each other and forgotten by the world. The surviving musicians reunite to form a 42-member orchestra called El Gusto and share in a passion they never lost: the soul of Algiers, Chaabi music.

Presented by The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life and the Townsend Center for the Humanities as part of the Depth of Field 2015-2016 Seminar Series: Sephardic Identities on Screen.