Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat (12A) Power, Corruption and Lies on Screen

Soundtrack to a Coup D'état
Johan Grimonprez | Belgium, France, Netherlands | 2024 | 150m | 12A for violence, discrimination, sexual violence references, strong language | In Dutch, English, Russia, French and Arabic with English subtitles

In 1960, sixteen newly independent African countries enter the United Nations, a political earthquake that shifts the majority vote from the colonial powers to the global south. Congo becomes the arena in which the battle over the UN is fought. As Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe at the UN-top in reaction to the neo-colonial grab of the resources of newly independent Congo, UN delegates from African Countries are blackmailed. In an incredulous twist Patrice Lumumba’s assassination unites the Afro-Asian block, demanding the UN General Assembly to vote for immediate worldwide decolonization.

Jazz and decolonisation fuse in this upbeat historical rollercoaster, set through a quartet of voices from an activist, a diplomat, a writer and a world leader. Starring Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Abbey Lincoln, Max Roach, Nina Simone, Miriam Makeba, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Malcolm X and Nikita Khrushchev, and many more....

Part of the Power, Corruption and Lies on Screen Season, a themed run of films exploring how power can be misused, how corruption develops, and how truth can be manipulated. Soundtrack to a Coup d'État exposes how political power is exercised behind the scenes, and how governments, corporations and international institutions manipulate events for their own interests.