SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D’ETAT

DOCUMENTARY | ENGLISH, FRENCH| 150 MIN

In 1960, sixteen newly independent African countries enter the United Nations, a political earthquake that shifts the majority vote from the colonial powers to the global south. Congo becomes the arena in which the battle over the UN is fought. As Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe at the UN-top 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 decolonization.

DIRECTOR Johan Grimonprez
CAST Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone, Dizzy Gillepsie

SCREENINGS + EVENTS

FROM NOVEMBER 15

Bertha DocHouse, London | November 21
Screening and Q&A with director Johan Grimonprez
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Depot, Lewes

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Arthouse Crouch End, London
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Cine Lumiere, London 
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ICA, London
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Showroom, Sheffield
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Light House, Dublin
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Irish Film Institute, Dublin
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Chapter, Cardiff
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Tyneside, Newcastle upon Tyne 
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Watershed, Bristol
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The Light, Sheffield
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The Light, Stockport
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The Light, New Brighton
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The Light, Cambridge 
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The Light, Banbury
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Corn Exchange, Wallingford 
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Ritzy Picturehouse
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Ealing Picturehouse
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Cameo Picturehouse
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Finsbury Picturehouse
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Hackney Picturehouse
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Phoenix Picturehouse
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FACT Picturehouse
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FROM NOVEMBER 22

Ritzy Picturehouse, London | November 24
Screening and Q&A with director Johan Grimonprez
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Cine Lumiere, London
 
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Curzon Bloomsbury, London
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Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
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Arthouse Crouch End, London
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Depot, Lewes
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Chapter, Cardiff
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Light House, Dublin
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Irish Film Institute, Dublin
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Science and Media Museum, Bradford
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Watershed, Bristol
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Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow
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HOME, Manchester
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Ritzy Picturehouse
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Cameo Picturehouse
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Finsbury Picturehouse
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Hackney Picturehouse
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Phoenix Picturehouse
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FACT Picturehouse
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Totnes Cinema
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“A remarkable film – exhaustive, informative and rigorously researched,
but also crackling with energy, ideas and formal daring”

— Screen International

“Watching the doc evokes the same intellectual and visceral feeling one gets from reading a dense work of nonfiction, complete with a thick annotated bibliography.”

— RogerEbert.com

“A Vibrant, Jazz-Led History Lesson on Colonial
Machinations in the Congo”

— IndieWire

“a mind-blowingly rich tapestry of research, music, and the jazziest history lesson imaginable, with freewheeling beats and riffs echoing into today with urgent purpose.”

— Harper’s Bazaar

FESTIVALS + AWARDS

Sundance Film Festival
World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematic Innovation

European Film Awards
Documentary Film Selection 2024

CPH: DOX
Official Selection

BFI London Film Festival

Official Selection

IFI Documentary Film Festival
Official Selection

The Gotham Awards
Nominee: Best Documentary Feature