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Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat(2024)

2h 30m
- Documentary

Release Date: Nov 1, 2024 | Limited

Jazz and decolonization are entwined in this historical rollercoaster that rewrites the Cold War episode that led musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach to crash the UN Security Council in protest against the murder of Patrice Lumumba.

Official Website

Releases

Original Release | Nov 1, 2024

Box Office

Results

Opening Weekend US & Canada:
$9,931
Total US & Canada:
$113,381
Total International
$45,956
Total Worldwide:
$159,337

Director & Top Cast

Johan Grimonprez
Director

Louis Armstrong
Actor

Malcolm X
Actor

Nina Simone
Actor

Fidel Castro
Actor

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Actor

Miles Davis

Actor

Duke Ellington

Actor

Dag Hammarskjöld

Actor

Nikita Khrushchev

Actor

Mobutu Sese Seko

Actor

Patrice Lumumba

Actor

Gamal Abdel Nasser

Actor

Andrée Blouin

Actor

Leonid Brezhnev

Actor

Joseph Kasavubu

Actor

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Dolby SR

Aspect Ratio: 1.78 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: Belgium,France,Netherlands

Language: French,English,Dutch,Russian

Summaries

Plot Summary

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. Decolonization spins the world upside down, infusing it with a sense of hope.Six months earlier, sixteen newly independent African countries are admitted to the United Nations, triggering a political earthquake that shifts the majority vote away from the old colonial powers. The Cold War peaks as Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev bangs his shoe on his desk at the UN General Assembly, in reaction to the neo-colonial power grab unfolding in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Denouncing America's color bar and the UN complicity in the overthrow of Lumumba, he demands immediate decolonization worldwide.To retain control over the riches of what used to be Belgian Congo, King Baudouin of Belgium finds an ally in the Eisenhower administration, which fears losing access to one of the world's biggest supplies of Uranium, a mineral vital for the creation of atomic bombs. Congo 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.

Storyline

Jazz and decolonization are entwined in this historical rollercoaster that rewrites the Cold War episode that led musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach to crash the UN Security Council in protest against the murder of Patrice Lumumba.

Headlines

‘Sugarcane,’ ‘Soundtrack To A Coup D’Etat,’ ‘Queendom,’ ‘Black Box Diaries’ &...

Deadline Hollywood
19-Nov-2024

Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin Drive ‘A Real Pain’ To Top 3 Limited Opening A...

Deadline Hollywood
03-Nov-2024

Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin Drive ‘A Real Pain' To Top 3 Limited Opening A...

MSN.com
03-Nov-2024

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat(2024)

Box Office

Results

Director & Top Cast

Johan Grimonprez

Louis Armstrong

Malcolm X

Nina Simone

Fidel Castro

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Miles Davis

Duke Ellington

Dag Hammarskjöld

Nikita Khrushchev

Mobutu Sese Seko

Patrice Lumumba

Gamal Abdel Nasser

Andrée Blouin

Leonid Brezhnev

Joseph Kasavubu

Technical Specifications

Other Details

Summaries

Plot Summary

Storyline

Headlines

‘Sugarcane,’ ‘Soundtrack To A Coup D’Etat,’ ‘Queendom,’ ‘Black Box Diaries’ &...

Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin Drive ‘A Real Pain’ To Top 3 Limited Opening A...

Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin Drive ‘A Real Pain' To Top 3 Limited Opening A...

‘Godzilla Minus One’ Stomps Back Into Theaters – Specialty Preview

Johan Grimonprez on Making Jazz a Protagonist in ‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat...