Soundtrack-to-a-Coup-d-etat_poster_portrait

Documentary film screening and Roundtable discussion: Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat

The CHR will be screening Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat by Johan Grimonprez on Wednesday 30 October, followed by a roundtable discussion

Date: Wednesday 30 October 2024

Time: 4pm

Venue: The CHR’s Iyatsiba Lab, 66 Greatmore Street, Woodstock, (Entrance on Regent Road).

Discussants: 

Valmont Layne

(CHR, UWC),

Dara Kell

(Independent editor and filmmaker)

Marcos Martins

(CHR Visiting Scholar, University of the State of Rio de Janeiro),

Tonga Isango

(Independent filmmaker)

Awards

  • Cleveland Int’l FF (2024) – Nominated: Greg Gund Memorial Standing Up Award

Docville (2024) – Winner: Jury Award: Best Belgian Documentary

IndieLisboa Int’l Independent FF (2024) – Nominated: Indiemusic Schweppes Award

San Francisco Int’l FF (2024) – Winner: Persistence of Vision Award

Sofia Int’l FF (2024) – Winner: Grand Prix: International Documentary Competition

Sundance Film Festival (2024) – Nominated: Grand Jury Prize: World Cinema – Documentary

Sundance Film Festival (2024) – Winner: World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award: Cinematic Innovation

The Hague Movies that Matter Festival (2024) – Nominated: Grand Jury Documentary Award: Best Documentary; Camera Justitia Award

Thessaloniki Doc FF (2024) – Nominated: Golden Alexander: Film Forward Competition

Thessaloniki Doc FF (2024) – Winner: Audience Award: Film Over 45′ – International Selection

This masterpiece of documentary filmmaking revisits the 1960 coup in Congo, four months after the country’s official independence from Belgium.  It tells the story of how the CIA weaponised African American musicians without their knowledge, using their music and power as cultural ambassadors to extend American influence in Africa, particularly the resource-rich Congo—where Patrice Lumumba had just been assassinated under very dubious circumstances. With its beautifully controlled barrage of sounds, words, and images building a coherent narrative around the CIA’s use of African American culture to consolidate its soft power and fight Soviet encroachment and the independence movements sweeping the world, the jazzy freeform structure of Soundtrack to a Coup d’État perfectly reflects the music that drives it. Featuring many of the era’s key musical and cultural talents—from Miles Davis to Miriam Makeba to Nina Simone—the film provides a unique perspective on the 20th century and a scorching reproach to US foreign policy and the machinations of the West’s intelligence agencies.