Soundtrack to a Coup d'État

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Soundtrack to a Coup d'État

2024

2h 30m

Documentary

History

Music

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

97%

Tomatometer

65 Reviews

97%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

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.

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Critics Consensus

Director Johan Grimonprez's sprawling documentary moves to a furious beat, laying out its thesis with an energy that's as enthralling as it is thought-provoking.

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Sam Davies

Sight & Sound

Dec 18

Johan Grimonprez’s Soundtrack to a Coup d’État takes this collision of politics and jazz, Cold War and colonialism, and lays out with cool precision the different strands of its backstory.

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Philip Concannon

Little White Lies

01/21/2025

4/5

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat is a dense and meticulously constructed picture.

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Kimberley Jones

Austin Chronicle

01/07/2025

4/5

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat relates not just Lumumba’s assassination but the larger role the Congo, a nation rich with natural resources, played in the Cold War, and the so-called Congo Crisis’ surprising intersections with midcentury American jazz.

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Dave Giannini

Geek Vibes Nation

Jul 19

8.5/10

History is full of important lessons and there are many to be found in Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat.

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Anna Hoang

Boston Hassle

Jul 13

4/5

[The film] is the perfect composition of unfolding a historical event, tying together archival footage with literature and performance for a digestible presentation of the crisis.

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Sean P. Means

The Movie Cricket

May 10

3.5/4

A rich account of a violent history that most Americans have likely forgotten — which is a shame, since American tax dollars, funneled through the CIA, financed a lot of it.

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Cagle

Feb 19

Grim subject but excellently presented. Outstanding music which creatively accompanied the unfolding of complex concomitant events, "players", geographical/govermental/political/financial circumstances coherently

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kathryne c

01/02/2025

This was an excellent documentary!

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Paula T

12/15/2024

Strong combination of jazz and politics, much interesting documentary footage.

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Lanfranco C

@Lanfrancobz Nov 21

A movie that fills, fom its point of view, many historical gaps.

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Matthew R

Jul 29

Powerful, discouraging, honest film. The more documentaries I see the include Russia the more I think Russia might be the good guys, idk. Movies like this are great but what good does it do? History will always shine a light on those who have acted in complete darkness, but nothing ever changes.

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Tom F

Jun 29

A beautiful looking and sounding documentary, centering on the paradox of the US using jazz artists as diplomatic tools to defend pro-colonial policies.

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Johan Grimonprez

Director

Zap Mama

Narrator

In Koli Jean Bofane

Narrator

Patrick Cruise O'Brien

Narrator

Louis Armstrong

Self

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Soundtrack to a Coup d'État: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

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
Producer: Daan Milius, Rémi Grellety
Screenwriter: Johan Grimonprez
Distributor: Kino Lorber
Production Co: Warboys Films
Genre: Documentary, History, Music
Original Language: French
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 1, 2024, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 7, 2025
Box Office (Gross USA): $365.3K
Runtime: 2h 30m

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