Screening times:
Thursday, February 6, 6:30 PM
Friday, February 7, 6:30 PM
Saturday, February 8, 5:30 PM - half-capacity screening
Sunday, February 9, 5:30 PM - half-capacity screening
Johan Grimonprez | Belgium | 2024 | 150m
Dutch, English, Russian, French, and Arabic, with English subtitles
English dialogue is captioned.
United Nations, 1960: the Global South ignites a political earthquake, jazz musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach crash the Security Council, Nikita Khrushchev bangs his shoe, and the U.S. State Department swings into action, sending jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong to the Congo to deflect attention from the CIA-backed coup.
Director Johan Grimonprez explores a moment when jazz, colonialism, and espionage collided, constructing a riveting historical roller coaster that illuminates the political machinations behind the 1961 assassination of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba.
The result is a revelatory documentary richly illustrated by eyewitness accounts, official government memos, testimonies from mercenaries and CIA operatives, speeches from Lumumba himself, and a veritable canon of jazz icons. Sundance award-winner Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat interrogates colonial history to tell an urgent and timely story that resonates more than ever in today’s geopolitical climate.
This documentary was listed among the best films of 2024 by the New York Times, Film Comment, Sight & Sound, Artform, NPR, and Slant.
"A riveting, deeply researched archival mix tape with the breadth of a period epic, the soul of an activist march and the pulse-racing energy of a cloak-and-dagger thriller.” - Robert Abele, The Los Angeles Times
“Uses every instrument cinema affords... Rhythmic and propulsive, with reverberating sound and images juxtaposed against one another to lend more meaning. The result, in a word, is marvelous." - Alissa Wilkinson, The New York Times
“A sprawling, swinging work of 20th century history with dazzling musical energy.” - Zachary Barnes, The Wall Street Journal
Winner: Special Jury Award for Cinematic Innovation - Sundance Film Festival 2024
Winner: Grand Prix - International Documentary Competition - Sofia International Film Festival 2024
Winner: Best Documentary - Bergen International Film Festival 2024
Nominee: Best Documentary Feature - Academy Awards 2025
Tickets $8.75 ($8 cash at the door if available).
Saturday and Sunday are half-capacity screenings. Note the earlier start times on Saturday and Sunday.
