Soundtrack To A Coup D'etat
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A bravura cinematic essay that plays like a thriller, intertwining the story of jazz with the history of colonial machinations in the Congo. Nina Simone and Louis Armstrong feature in this Sundance winner.
Grimonprez’s award-winning documentary (Special Jury Award for Cinematic Innovation, Sundance) homes in on the ‘60s, when America sent jazz icons Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone, and Dizzy Gillespie as ‘goodwill ambassadors’ to Africa to distract from the earlier CIA-backed assassination of Congolese prime minister Patrice Lumumba. With stylised flair, the film shows that “America’s secret weapon is a blue note in a minor key.” Yet jazz wasn’t just a decoy. Deftly collaging archival footage and home movies, Grimonprez traces a counter history in which Black American artists protested U.S. imperialism and built international solidarity with decolonial movements.
Limited seats are available for patrons requiring access for wheelchairs, low vision and hearing loop. Please contact our ticketing team directly on 1300 733 733 or tickets@sff.org.au to complete your booking.
- Program Strand
- FLUX
- Year
- 2024
- Classification
- Unclassified 15+
- Country
- Belgium, France, Netherlands
- Language
- In French, English, Dutch and Russian with English subtitles
- Director
- Johan Grimonprez
- Producer
- Rémi Grellety, Daan Milius
- Screenwriter
- Johan Grimonprez
- Cinematographer
- Jonathan Wannyn
- Editor
- Rik Chaubet
- Premiere
- Australian Premiere
- Genre
- Documentary, Politics & Economics, Festival Award Winners, Music
- Company Credits
- Australian Distributor: Madman Entertainment
