“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” by Johan Grimonprez

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat

Johan Grimonprez

2024 | Belgium, France, Netherlands | 150 min.

A monumental and innovative history lesson set to a jazz rhythm, exploring the social upheavals of the 1960s, the Cold War, Africa’s decolonization, and how the CIA and the Belgian monarchy orchestrated the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the Prime Minister of the Congo, using legendary jazz musicians as a distraction. The political significance and music of African American artists like Dizzy Gillespie, Nina Simone, Max Roach, and Abbey Lincoln, as well as Congolese musicians such as Adou Elenga and Joseph Kabasele, piece together a bloody and captivating puzzle.

On November 22, curators Carles Guerra and Pascale Cassagneau (CNAP) will host a dialogue about the film.

Featured: Miriam Makeba, Andrée Blouin, Nikita S. Khrushchev, Patrice Lumumba, Allen Dulles, Paul-Henri Spaak, In Koli Jean Bofane, Krishna Menon, Malcolm X, Max Roach, Abbey Lincoln, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Nina Simone, Thelonious Monk, Docteur Nico, Joseph Kabasele.