also see this great new film “soundtrack to a coup d’etat”

soundtrack to a coup d’etat premiered at the sundance film festival on 22 january 2024.

it won the andré cavens award for best film from the belgian film critics association. it has been nominated for best documentary feature film at the 97th academy awards.

soundtrack to a coup d’etat is a documentary film directed by johan grimonprez about the cold war episode that led american musicians abbey lincoln and max roach to crash the un security council in protest against the murder of congolese leader patrice lumumba. one february morning in 1961, singer abbey lincoln and drummer max roach crash the un security council to protest the murder of prime minister patrice lumumba of the newly independent congo. sixty yelling protesters throw punches, slam their stilettos and provoke a skirmish with unprepared guards as diplomats look on in shock.

six months earlier, sixteen newly independent african countries are admitted to the united nations, shifting the majority vote away from the old colonial powers. soviet leader nikita khrushchev speaks in opposition to the neo-colonial power grab unfolding in the republic of the congo (léopoldville) (modern dr congo). denouncing america’s color bar and un complicity in the overthrow of lumumba, he demands immediate decolonization worldwide.

to retain control over the riches of what used to be the belgian congo, king baudouin of belgium finds an ally in the eisenhower administration, which fears losing access to one of the world’s biggest known reserves of uranium, a metal vital for the creation of atomic bombs. congo-léopoldville takes center stage to both the cold war and the scheme for control of the un. the US state department swings into action: jazz ambassador louis armstrong is dispatched to win the hearts and minds of africa. unwittingly, armstrong becomes a smokescreen to divert attention from africa’s first post-colonial coup, leading to the assassination of congo’s first democratically elected leader. malcolm x stands up in open support of lumumba and his efforts to create a united states of africa while also reframing the freedom struggle of african americans as one not for civil rights but for human rights, aiming to bring his case before the UN.

as black jazz ambassadors are performing unaware amidst covert cia operatives, the likes of armstrong, nina simone, duke ellington, dizzy gillespie and melba liston face a painful dilemma: how to represent a country where segregation is still the law of the land.

jazz and decolonization are entwined in this forgotten episode of the cold war, where the greatest musicians stepped onto the political stage, and downtrodden politicians lent their voices as inadvertent lead singers. this story of the undermining of african self-determination is told from the perspective of central african republic women’s rights activist and politician andrée blouin, irish diplomat and enfant terrible conor cruise o’brien, belgian-congolese writer in koli jean bofane, and nikita khrushchev himself. by dd