Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat (2024)

11/09/2024 (BE)•Documentary, History, Music•2h 30m

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Overview

Jazz and decolonization are intertwined in a powerful narrative that recounts one of the tensest episodes of the Cold War. In 1960, the UN became the stage for a political earthquake as the struggle for independence in the Congo put the world on high alert. The newly independent nation faced its first coup d'état, orchestrated by Western forces and Belgium, which were reluctant to relinquish control over their resource-rich former colony. The US tried to divert attention by sending jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong to the African continent. In 1961, Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba was brutally assassinated, silencing a key voice in the fight against colonialism; his death was facilitated by Belgian and CIA operatives. Musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach took action, denouncing imperialism and structural racism. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev intensified his criticism of the US, highlighting the racial barriers that characterized American society.

Top Billed Cast

Patrice Lumumba
Self (archive footage)
Louis Armstrong
Self (archive footage)
Nikita Khrushchev
Self (archive footage)
Dizzy Gillespie
Self (archive footage)
Andrée Blouin
Self (archive footage)
Abbey Lincoln
Self (archive footage)
Max Roach
Self (archive footage)
Malcolm X
Self (archive footage)
Nina Simone
Self (archive footage)

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Reviews 2

A review by Brent Marchant

5.0

Written by Brent Marchant on Jan 9, 2025

Perhaps the most important objective of a documentary is to shed light on a subject and make it comprehensible and insightful for viewers, especially when it involves little-known material. However, when it comes to writer-director Johan Grimonprez’s latest offering, that goal is sorely compromised in multiple respects. The film examines (or, more precisely, attempts to examine) the complex history of the Congo’s struggle for independence from its Belgian colonial masters and the emergence of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba as a global influencer in the 1950s and early 1960s. The fledgling, res...