Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat

On January 17, 1961, seven months after Congolese independence, Patrice Lumumba, the nation’s first democratically elected prime minister, is assassinated. How did this political murder come about? And what role did Black jazz legends such as Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie play within the larger context of the era, amid the decolonization movements then sweeping across Africa? These questions are at the heart of Soundtrack to a Coup d’État, a riveting, essayistic investigation of the complex and unlikely intersections of American jazz and Cold War geopolitics.

Directed by Belgian multimedia artist Johan Grimonprez, the film deftly weaves together archival footage, political speeches, journalistic interviews, personal memoirs, and historical studies, demonstrating how the struggle for civil rights in the United States was deeply intertwined with decolonial movements in Africa and elsewhere. Recipient of the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematic Innovation at Sundance, Soundtrack pulses with anti-colonialist fervor, putting a spotlight on a dark chapter of history that has lost none of its urgency or import today.

I don’t think I’ve seen a better movie-movie all year.

J. Hoberman, Film Comment

Rhythmic and propulsive… marvelous.

Alissa Wilkinson, The New York Times

A bravura cinematic essay that intertwines jazz, history, and the taste of a spy thriller.

Tomris Laffly, Harper’s Bazaar