Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Focus on the Documentary
In 1960, sixteen newly independent African countries enter the United Nations. To the rhythms of a jazz soundtrack, Congo becomes the arena in which the battle over the UN is fought.
As Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe at the UN in reaction to the neo-colonial grab of the resources of newly independent Congo, UN delegates from African Countries are blackmailed.
In an incredulous twist Patrice Lumumba’s assassination unites the Afro-Asian block, demanding the UN General Assembly to vote for immediate worldwide decolonisation. In this highly explosive context, the United States government dispatches Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie and Nina Simone as Jazz Ambassadors around the world – as a diversion from CIA-backed coups.
Cutting between home movies, official texts, historical footage and Patrice Lumumba’s speeches, the film uses an endless rhythm of rumba and jazz to unravel colonial machinations of power in 1960. ‘Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat’ is a huge achievement, one that intertwines the history of jazz and colonisation.