Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat
| Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Johan Grimonprez |
| Written by | Johan Grimonprez |
| Produced by | Daan Milius Rémi Grellety |
| Narrated by | In Koli Jean Bofane Zap Mama Patrick Cruise O’Brien |
| Edited by | Rik Chaubet |
Release date |
|
Running time | 150 minutes |
| Countries | Belgium France Netherlands |
| Box office | $64,206[1][2] |
Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat is a 2024 documentary film directed by Johan Grimonprez about the Cold War episode that led musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach to crash the UN Security Council in protest against the murder of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba.[3]
Featuring excerpts from “My Country, Africa” by Andrée Blouin (narrated by Marie Daulne aka Zap Mama), “Congo Inc.” by In Koli Jean Bofane, “To Katanga and Back,” by Conor Cruise O’Brien (narrated by Patrick Cruise O’Brien), and audio memoirs by Nikita Khrushchev.
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat is produced by Onomatopee Films and Warboys Films, in co-production with Zap-O-Matik, Baldr Film, ZKM Center For Art And Media Karlsruhe, RTBF and VRT.
Plot
[edit]One February morning in 1961, singer Abbey Lincoln and drummer Max Roach crash the UN Security Council to protest the murder of prime minister Patrice Lumumba of the newly independent Congo. Sixty yelling protesters throw punches, slam their stilettos and provoke a skirmish with unprepared guards as diplomats look on in shock. Decolonization spins the world upside down, infusing it with a sense of hope.
Six months earlier, sixteen newly independent African countries are admitted to the United Nations, triggering a political earthquake that shifts the majority vote away from the old colonial powers. The Cold War peaks as Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev bangs his shoe on his desk at the UN General Assembly, in reaction to the neo-colonial power grab unfolding in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Denouncing America’s color bar and the UN complicity in the overthrow of Lumumba, he demands immediate decolonization worldwide.
To retain control over the riches of what used to be Belgian Congo, King Baudouin of Belgium finds an ally in the Eisenhower administration, which fears losing access to one of the world’s biggest supplies of Uranium, a mineral vital for the creation of atomic bombs. Congo takes center stage to both the Cold War and the scheme for control of the UN. The US State Department swings into action: Jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong is dispatched to win the hearts and minds of Africa. Unwittingly, Armstrong becomes a smokescreen to divert attention from Africa’s first post-colonial coup, leading to the assassination of Congo’s first democratically elected leader. Malcolm X stands up in open support of Lumumba and his efforts to create a United States of Africa while also reframing the freedom struggle of African Americans as one not for civil rights but for human rights, aiming to bring his case before the UN.
As Black jazz ambassadors are performing unaware amidst covert CIA operatives, the likes of Armstrong, Nina Simone, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie and Melba Liston face a painful dilemma: how to represent a country where segregation is still the law of the land.
Jazz and decolonization are entwined in this forgotten episode of the Cold War, where the greatest musicians stepped onto the political stage, and downtrodden politicians lent their voices as inadvertent lead singers. This story of the undermining of African self-determination is told from the perspective of Central African Republic women’s rights activist and politician Andrée Blouin, Irish diplomat and enfant terrible Conor Cruise O’Brien, Belgian-Congolese writer In Koli Jean Bofane, and Nikita Khrushchev himself.[4]
Cast
[edit]- Louis Armstrong, Jazz Musician
- Dizzy Gillespie, Jazz Musician
- Abbey Lincoln, Jazz Musician
- Max Roach, Jazz Musician
- Nina Simone, Jazz Musician
- Miriam Makeba, Jazz Musician
- John Coltrane, Jazz Musician
- Duke Ellington, Jazz Musician
- Melba Liston, Jazz Musician
- Eric Dolphy, Jazz Musician
- Charles Mingus, Jazz Musician
- Ornette Coleman, Jazz Musician
- Le Grand Kallé, African Rumba Musician
- Rock-a-Mambo, African Rumba Orchestra
- Dr. Nico, African Rumba Musician
- Marie Daulne "Zap Mama", Belgian-Congolese Musician
- Patrice Lumumba, Congolese Prime Minister
- Eddy Wally, Belgian Musician
- Willis Connover, Voice of America radio broadcaster
- René Magritte, Belgian Painter
- Andrée Blouin, Pan-Africanist
- Dag Hammarskjöld, UN Secretary-General
- Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet Chairman (1958 - 1964)
- In Koli Jean Bofane, Novelist
- Malcolm X, Human Rights Activist
- Conor Cruise O’Brien, Irish Diplomat/Writer
- Allen Dulles, Director of the CIA (1953 - 1961)
- John F. Dulles, US Secretary of State (1953 - 1959)
Production
[edit]One of Johan Grimonprez inspirations for making the film was his fascination with Nikita Khrushchev's shoe-banging incident.[5] The film, made entirely with archival footage, was edited using Adobe Premiere Pro and color corrected with DaVinci Resolve.[6]
Release and reception
[edit]Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival[7] as part of the World Documentary Competition where it received the Special Jury Award for Cinematic Innovation. The jury described the film as "a bold and ambitious way to grapple with a complex story. It bursts into our consciousness using multiple storytelling forms, taking a concealed history and making us see it differently."[8] Film critic Alissa Wilkinson published on The New York Times: “I can’t stop thinking about the remarkable ‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat,’ a sprawling film that’s a well-researched essay about the 1960 regime change in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the part the United States, particularly the C.I.A., played.”[9] She later described the film as "marvelous".[10]
The critic Murtada Elfadl published on Variety: "an invigorating piece of documentary filmmaking [...] It’s dense yet nuanced, managing to capture so many disparate threads that combined to result in Lumumba’s murder."[11]
Marye E. Gates wrote on RogerEbert.com: "A searing video-essay… Watching the doc evokes the same intellectual and visceral feeling one gets from reading a dense work of nonfiction…For many it will be an eye-opener."[12]
David Opie for IndieWire: "A vibrant film essay that marries jazz and politics… Grimonprez’s doc has an impressionistic flair that asks audiences to actively participate in piecing everything together... It’s a stirring rally that’s uniquely cinematic in the way so many elements come together so precisely and yet still feels so organic as well.”[13]
Lovie Gyarkye for The Hollywood Reporter: "Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat plays like a syncopated thriller."[14]
The film has been picked as one of the "10 Best Movies From the 2024 Sundance Film Festival"[15] by Rolling Stone. It has also been shown at MoMa's Director's Fortnight[16] and at the 2024 edition of Cinéma du Réel.[17]
Accolades
[edit]| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sundance Film Festival | 28 January 2024 | World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize | Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat | Nominated | [18][8] |
| Special Jury Award for Cinematic Innovation | Won | ||||
| Sofia International Film Festival | 31 March 2024 | Grand Prix – International Documentary Competition | Won | [19] | |
| San Francisco International Film Festival | 28 April 2024 | Persistence of Vision | Won | [20] | |
| Montclair Film Festival | 28 October 2024 | Bruce Sinofsky Award for the Documentary Feature Competition | Won | [21] | |
| Thessaloniki Film Festival | 10 November 2024 | Golden Alexander | Nominated | [22] | |
| Audience Award | Won | ||||
| Gotham Awards | 2 December 2024 | Best Documentary Feature | Johan Grimonprez, Rémi Grellety, Daan Milius | Pending | [23] |
| International Documentary Association Awards | 5 December 2024 | Best Feature Documentary | Pending | [24] | |
| Best Director | Johan Grimonprez | Pending | |||
| Best Writing | Pending | ||||
| Best Editing | Rik Chaubet | Pending | |||
| European Film Awards | 7 December 2024 | European Film | Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat | Pending | [25] |
| European Documentary | Pending | ||||
| Cinema Eye Honors | 9 January 2024 | Outstanding Non-Fiction Feature | Johan Grimonprez, Daan Milius, Rémi Grellety, Jonathan Wannyn, Rik Chaubet, Ranko Pauković and Alek Bunic Goosse | Pending | [26] |
| Outstanding Editing | Rik Chaubet | Pending | |||
| Outstanding Sound Design | Ranko Pauković and Alek Bunic Goosse | Pending |
Distribution
[edit]Kino Lorber picked up Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat from Submarine Entertainment at the Cannes film market. Lorber senior vice President Wendy Lidell negotiated the deal with Matt Burke of Submarine. Mediawan Rights is handling international sales for the film and has already inked multiple territories including Australia (Madman), Benelux (Imagine), Brazil (Bela Artes Grupo), Greece (Cinobo), Italy (I Wonder Pictures), Spain (Filmin), Thailand (Documentary Club), UK/Ireland (Modern Films) and ex-Yugoslavia (Beldocs).
Kino Lorber will partner with specialist streamer Kanopy on the U.S. release of the film.[27]
References
[edit]- ^ "Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat". The Numbers. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
- ^ "Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
- ^ "A Circle of Love: Remembering Abbey Lincoln in "Nothing But a Man" (1964)". Los Angeles Review of Books. February 27, 2022.
- ^ "Johan Grimonprez". johangrimonprez.be.
- ^ Zachariades 2024, p. 88.
- ^ Zachariades 2024, p. 93.
- ^ ""Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat": Political Machinations in the Congo | Sundance Film Festival". January 23, 2024.
- ^ a b "2024 Sundance Film Festival Announces Award Winners - sundance.org". January 26, 2024.
- ^ Wilkinson, Alissa (28 January 2024). "At Sundance, A.I., Psychics and Other Ways of Connecting with the Dead". The New York Times.
- ^ New York Times, "'Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat' Review: What Lies Beneath", October 31, 2024. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
- ^ Elfadl, Murtada (March 11, 2024). "'Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat' Review: Innovative Doc Draws a Connection Between Jazz Music and the Assassination of Patrice Lumumba".
- ^ Gates, Marya E. "Sundance 2024: Black Box Diaries, Never Look Away, Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat | Festivals & Awards | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com/.
- ^ Opie, David (2024-01-23). "'Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat' Review: A Vibrant, Jazz-Led History Lesson on Colonial Machinations in the Congo". IndieWire. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
- ^ Gyarkye, Lovia (2024-03-01). "'Soundtrack to a Coup D'Etat' Review: Kinetic Doc Connects Jazz, Decolonization and the Birth of the United Nations". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
- ^ Fear, David (January 27, 2024). "10 Best Movies From the 2024 Sundance Film Festival". Rolling Stone.
- ^ "Soundtrack to a Coup D'Etat. 2024. Directed by Johan Grimonprez | MoMA".
- ^ "Soundtrack to a coup d'état • Cinéma du Réel". Cinéma du Réel.
- ^ The Complete List of 2024 Sundance Film Festival Award Winners|Sundance Film Festival
- ^ "THE AWARDS * 28th SOFIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL". siff.bg. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
- ^ "Persistence of Vision Award: Johan Grimonprez + "Soundtrack for a Coup d'Etat"". SFFILM. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
- ^ Bergeson, Samantha (October 28, 2024). "Montclair Film Festival Announces 2024 Winners: 'All We Imagine as Light' Takes Top Prize". IndieWire. Archived from the original on November 7, 2024.
- ^ "26th TiDF: The Awards". Thessaloniki Film Festival. March 17, 2024.
- ^ Goldsmith, Jill (29 October 2024). "Gotham Awards Nominations: 'Anora' Leads Pack, 'Challengers' & 'Nickel Boys' Among Group Up For Best Feature". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
- ^ Bergeson, Samantha (November 19, 2024). "IDA Documentary Awards Announces 2024 Nominees: 'Sugarcane,' 'No Other Land,' and More". IndieWire. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
- ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (5 November 2024). "European Film Awards: 'Emilia Pérez', 'The Room Next Door' Lead Nominations". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
- ^ Hipes, Patrick (October 24, 2024). "Cinema Eye Honors: 'Girls State', 'Ren Faire' Lead Broadcast Nominees; Audience Choice Award Longlist Revealed". Deadline. Retrieved November 15, 2024.
- ^ Roxborough, Scott (2024-05-21). "Kino Lorber Takes U.S. Rights for 'Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
Works cited
[edit]- Zachariades, Christina (2024). "History Repeats the Old Conceits". Filmmaker. Vol. 33, no. 1. The Gotham Film & Media Institute.