Home Movies TV Series Search Sign in

Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat

7.3 150 mins Documentary   History   2024
Onomatopee Films   Warboys Films   Zap-O-Matik   ZKM Karlsruhe   BALDR   RTBF   VRT  
Director(s): Johan Grimonprez

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.

Casts of Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat

Patrice Lumumba

as Self (archive footage)

Louis Armstrong

as Self (archive footage)

Nikita Khrushchev

as Self (archive footage)

Dizzy Gillespie

as Self (archive footage)

Andrée Blouin

as Self (archive footage)

Abbey Lincoln

as Self (archive footage)

Max Roach

as Self (archive footage)

Malcolm X

as Self (archive footage)

Nina Simone

as Self (archive footage)

John Coltrane

as Self (archive footage)

Duke Ellington

as Self (archive footage)

Miriam Makeba

as Self (archive footage)

Conor Cruise O’Brien

as Self (archive footage)

Dwight D. Eisenhower

as Self (archive footage)

René Magritte

as Self (archive footage)

Allen Dulles

as Self (archive footage)

Gamal Abdel Nasser

as Self (archive footage)

Fidel Castro

as Self (archive footage)

You might also like