Johan Grimonprez’ riveting documentary is about a Cold War episode that led musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach to crash the UN Security Council in protest against the murder of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba.
Featuring excerpts from “My Country, Africa” by Andrée Blouin (narrated by Marie Daulne aka Zap Mama), “Congo Inc.” by In Koli Jean Bofane, “To Katanga and Back,” by Conor Cruise O’Brien (narrated by Patrick Cruise O’Brien), and audio memoirs by Nikita Khrushchev.
In February 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 protesters throw punches, slam their stilettos and provoke skirmish. As a result, the whole phenom of decolonization spins the world upside down, infusing it with hope.
Six months earlier, 16 independent African countries are admitted to the United Nations, shifting 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 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Denouncing America’s color bar and the UN complicity in overthrowing Lumumba, he demands decolonization worldwide.
King Baudouin of Belgium finds an ally in the Eisenhower administration, which fears losing access to the supply of Uranium, vital for the creation of atomic bombs. Congo takes center stage to both the Cold War and the scheme for control of the U.N. The U.S. State Department swings into action: Jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong is dispatched to win Africa.
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 support of Lumumba and his efforts to create a United States of Africa while also reframing the freedom struggle of African Americans as one 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 the dilemma of how to represent a country where segregation is still the law.
Jazz and decolonization are entwined in this episode of the Cold War, where some great musicians stepped onto the political stage, and downtrodden politicians lent their voices as 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 Conor Cruise O’Brien, Belgian-Congolese writer In Koli Jean Bofane, and Nikita Khrushchev himself. Grimonprez said that he was inspired by Khrushchev’s shoe-banging incident.
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Fest as part of the World Documentary Competition where it received the Special Jury Award for Cinematic Innovation. The jury described the film as “a bold and ambitious way to grapple with a complex story, bursting into our consciousness using multiple storytelling forms, taking a concealed history and making us see it differently.”
Well-researched, it’s a dense yet nuanced essay, which captures the many disparate political and musical threads that led Lumumba’s murder.
Cast
Louis Armstrong, Jazz Musician
Dizzy Gillespie, Jazz Musician
Abbey Lincoln, Jazz Musician
Max Roach, Jazz Musician
Nina Simone, Jazz Musician
Miriam Makeba, Jazz Musician
John Coltrane, Jazz Musician
Duke Ellington, Jazz Musician
Melba Liston, Jazz Musician
Eric Dolphy, Jazz Musician
Rock-a-Mambo, African Rumba Orchestra
Dr. Nico, African Rumba Musician
Marie Daulne “Zap Mama”, Belgian-Congolese Musician
Patrice Lumumba, Congolese Prime Minister
