Soundtrack to a Coup d'État

This gripping 150-minute film masterfully intertwines jazz and decolonization to rewrite a pivotal Cold War episode, revealing a hidden history where politics and music collide. Featuring archival footage, never-before-heard interviews, and a jazz soundtrack, Soundtrack to a Coup d’État interrogates colonial history to tell an urgent and timely story of precedent that resonates more than ever in today’s geopolitical climate.

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 Congo to deflect attention from the CIA-backed coup. Director Johan Grimonprez captures the moment when African politics and American jazz collided in this magnificent essay film, a riveting historical rollercoaster that illuminates the political machinations behind the 1961 assassination of Congo’s leader Patrice Lumumba. 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, Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat interrogates colonial history to tell an urgent and timely story of precedent that resonates more than ever in today’s geopolitical climate.

Director: Johan Grimonprez
Featuring: Louis Armstrong, Andrée Blouin, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Abbey Lincoln, Patrice Lumumba, Nina Simone, Malcolm X
Year: 2024
Country: Belgium, France, Netherlands
Language: English, French, Dutch, Russian with English Subtitles

Awards & Accolades

Special Jury Award for Cinematic Innovation, Sundance Film Festival 2024

Best Editing, International Documentary Association (IDA) 2024

Best Writing, International Documentary Association (IDA) 2024

Critics’ Choice, The New York Times, Rolling Stone

Critics Reviews

“Rhythmic and propulsive... marvelous." –The New York Times

“I don’t think I’ve seen a better movie-movie all year.” –Film Comment

“A bravura cinematic essay that intertwines jazz, history, and the taste of a spy thriller.” –Harper’s Bazaar

“Dreamlike yet propulsive.” –Los Angeles Times

“An intense piece of reclamation and rejuvenation.” –RogerEbert.com