Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat

Original Title: Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat

Documentary | 150' | 2024 (Completed)

All images & Videos

(6 images)

Director:	Johan Grimonprez
Producer:	Daan Milius
Writer:	Johan Grimonprez

Full credits

The post-colonial struggle for Congo’s resources, told from the unique perspective of Andrée Blouin, a neglected pioneer of female emancipation and independence throughout Africa.

synopsis

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.
1961, muzikanten Abbey Lincoln en Max Roach crashen de VN-Veiligheidsraad uit protest tegen de moord op de Congolese leider Patrice Lumumba.

6 maanden eerder vervoegden 16 onafhankelijke Afrikaanse landen de VN, waardoor het Globale-Zuiden de meerderheidsstem verwerft. Sovjetleider Nikita Chroesjtsjov klopt met zijn schoen op zijn bureau, uit verontwaardiging over de rol van de VN in de omverwerping van Lumumba, terwijl jazzambassadeur Louis Armstrong door de VS naar Congo wordt uitgestuurd, als afleidingsmanoeuvre voor de door de CIA gesteunde staatsgreep.

Credits

Director
Johan Grimonprez
Producer
Daan Milius
Writer
Johan Grimonprez
Editing
Rik Chaubet
Photography
Jonathan Wannyn
Sound
Ranko Paukovic & Alek Goosse

Format

Creation details

Type
Film
Category
Doc
Production share
Majority Flemish Production
Belgium
Genre
Documentary
Year of production

2024
Production status
Completed
Original title
Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat
Original language
English, French, Russian, Dutch

Technical specs

Running time
150'
Available in
2D
Aspect ratio
16:9
Sound format
5.1 (+sub)
Available formats
DCP
Colour
Colour

Contact & sales

Contact

ONOMATOPEE FILMS

Brandhoutkaai 37
1000 Brussel
Belgium

T 0488467117
info@zapomatik.com

Details
Sales

Mediawan

132, Avenue du Président Wilson
93210 La Plaine Saint-Denis
France

T +33149172385
sales@mediawan.com

rights.mediawan.com
Distribution
USA: Kino Lorber; UK: Modern Film; Australia: Madman; Spain: Filmin; Thailande: Documentary Club; Brasil: Belas Arte Grupo; Italy: I Wonder; Western Balkans: Beldocs; Bulgaria: Sofia FF; Greece: Cinobo; Sweden: PH Media; Austria: Filmladen; Poland: Against Gravity; Belgium & The Netherlands: Imagine (...)

Festivals & awards

Festivals

2024: Sundance Film Festival, MoMA Doc Fortnight, Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival, CPH DOX Sofia IFF, DocVille, Cinema du Reel, Movies that matter, One world Romania, Cleveland Film Festival, Ambulante, BAFICI, San Francisco FF, Doc10 Chicago, Subversive FF, Beldocs, Against Gravity, Seattle Intl FF, IndieLisboa DC/DOX, Cinetopia, Grossman FF, Film Fest Gent on Tour, Underhill Film Festival Montenegro, Sydney Film Festival, Encounters, Costa Rica International Film Festival, Festival Contrechamps, New Zealand IFF, Incredible Films Festival, Lemesos International Documentary Festival, Dokufest, Melbourne International Film Festival, Makedox, Festival de cinéma de Douarnenez, Oulu Music Video Festival, Camden International Film Festival, Love and Anarchy, International Human Rights Film Festival Albania, San Sebastian FF (...)

Awards

2024: World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematic Innovation - Sundance (USA); Fischer Audience Award “Peter Wintonick” to an international film with a duration of over 50 minutes - Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival (GR); Best documentary - Sofia International Film Festival; Best Belgian Documentary - Docville (BE); Special Mention Grand Jury Documentary Award - Movies That Matter (NL); Persistence of Vision Award - San Francisco Film Festival; Audience Award - Cinetopia (USA); NOISY CAT for best music documentary - Grossman Film Festival (SI); Special Mention - Encounters (SA)

Partners

Co-production partners

Warboys films (FR), zap-o-matik (BE), BALDR Film (NL), VRT (BE), RTBF (BE), ZKM (DE)

Supported by

Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), Creative Europe Program of the European Union, ARTE France, Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image Animée, Netherlands Film Fund, Field of Vision, Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audivisuel de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Image/Mouvement du Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Cinematek Royal Film Archive of Belgium, Royal Museum for Central Africa, KASK & Conservatorium, Procirep Angoa, Sacem