Johan Grimonprez: Soundtrack to a Coup d’État

After acclai­med essay films such as Dial H‑I-S-T-O-R‑Y (1997) and Double Take (2009), the Belgian mul­ti­me­dia artist and film­ma­ker Johan Grimonprez now unra­vels how jazz and geo­po­li­tics col­li­de in a nefa­rious chap­ter of Cold War his­to­ry: the mur­der of Patrice Lumumba.

Deeply researched, the film inter­wea­ves archi­val records, home movies, new­ly une­art­hed spee­ches by Lumumba, and publis­hed memoirs by Congolese acti­vists and wri­ters with the sto­ry of the Black jazz legends who defi­ned the era in more ways than one.

“Both a his­to­ri­cal pamphlet and a swin­ging musi­cal com­po­si­ti­on, Soundtrack to a Coup d’État unfolds like a record’s exten­si­ve slee­ve notes, as the jazz sounds pro­pel and car­ry along facts, figu­res and foot­no­tes of major and minor his­to­ries with them at diz­zying speed.” (Antoine Thirion)

• Screening in the con­text of Brussels Art Film Festival (BAFF) Extra Muros, in col­la­bo­ra­ti­on with Kunsthal Gent

‎