Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat

Last updated

Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat
Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Johan Grimonprez
Written byJohan Grimonprez
Produced byDaan Milius
Rémi Grellety
Narrated by In Koli Jean Bofane
Zap Mama
Patrick Cruise O'Brien
Edited byRik Chaubet
Production
companies
Onomatopee Films
Warboys Films
Zap-O-Matik
Baldr Film
ZKM Center
RTBF
VRT
Release date
  • 22 January 2024 (2024-01-22)(Sundance)
Running time
150 minutes
CountriesBelgium
France
Netherlands
LanguagesFrench
English
Russian
Box office$177,698 [1] [2]

Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat is a 2024 documentary film directed by Johan Grimonprez about the Cold War episode that led American musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach to crash the UN Security Council in protest against the murder of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba. [3]

Contents

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.

Plot

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

Production

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

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]

Lovia 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]

Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat was nominated for the Gotham Awards, the Critics Choice Doc Awards, Cinema Eye Honors, European Film Awards, IDA Doc Awards, and the Film Independent Spirit Awards in the Best Documentary category. [18] [19]

The film has been featured on the "Top 10 Best Films of 2024" list by The New York Times [20] and in the film category of the "Best of 2024" by Artforum . [21]

Accolades

AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef.
Sundance Film Festival 28 January 2024 World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury PrizeSoundtrack to a Coup d'EtatNominated [8] [22]
Special Jury Award for Cinematic InnovationWon
DocVille20 March 2024Best Belgian DocumentaryWon [23]
Movies That Matter22 March 2024Special Mention Grand Jury Documentary AwardWon [24]
Sofia International Film Festival 31 March 2024Grand Prix – International Documentary CompetitionWon [25]
San Francisco International Film Festival 28 April 2024Persistence of VisionWon [26]
Bergen International Film Festival 16 October 2024Documentary Extraordinaire (Best documnetary)Won [27]
El Gouna 27 October 2024Silver Star for Documentary FilmWon [28]
Montclair Film Festival 28 October 2024Bruce Sinofsky Award for the Documentary Feature CompetitionWon [29]
Thessaloniki Film Festival 10 November 2024Golden AlexanderNominated [30]
Audience AwardWon
Mirage Film Festival 3 NovemberBest EditingRik ChaubetWon [31]
Gotham Awards 2 December 2024 Best Documentary Feature Johan Grimonprez, Rémi Grellety, Daan MiliusNominated [32]
International Documentary Association Awards 5 December 2024Best Feature DocumentaryNominated [33] [34]
Best DirectorJohan GrimonprezNominated
Best WritingWon
ABC News Videosource AwardSoundtrack to a Coup d'EtatWon
Best EditingRik ChaubetWon
European Film Awards 7 December 2024 European Film Soundtrack to a Coup d'EtatShortlisted [35]
European Documentary Nominated
Cinema Eye Honors 9 January 2025 Outstanding Non-Fiction Feature Johan Grimonprez, Daan Milius, Rémi Grellety, Jonathan Wannyn, Rik Chaubet, Ranko Pauković and Alek Bunic GoossePending [36]
Outstanding EditingRik ChaubetPending
Outstanding Sound DesignRanko Pauković and Alek Bunic GoossePending
Independent Spirit Awards 22 February 2025 Best Documentary Feature Johan Grimonprez, Rémi Grellety, Daan MiliusPending [18]

Distribution

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. [37]

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References

  1. ↑ "Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat". The Numbers . Retrieved 16 December 2024.
  2. ↑ "Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved 16 December 2024.
  3. ↑ "A Circle of Love: Remembering Abbey Lincoln in "Nothing But a Man" (1964)". Los Angeles Review of Books. 27 February 2022.
  4. ↑ "Johan Grimonprez". johangrimonprez.be.
  5. ↑ Zachariades 2024, p. 88.
  6. ↑ Zachariades 2024, p. 93.
  7. ↑ ""Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat": Political Machinations in the Congo | Sundance Film Festival". 23 January 2024.
  8. 1 2 "2024 Sundance Film Festival Announces Award Winners - sundance.org". 26 January 2024.
  9. ↑ Wilkinson, Alissa (28 January 2024). "At Sundance, A.I., Psychics and Other Ways of Connecting with the Dead". The New York Times.
  10. ↑ Wilkinson, Alissa (31 October 2024). "'Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat' Review: What Lies Beneath". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  11. ↑ Elfadl, Murtada (11 March 2024). "'Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat' Review: Innovative Doc Draws a Connection Between Jazz Music and the Assassination of Patrice Lumumba".
  12. ↑ Gates, Marya E. "Sundance 2024: Black Box Diaries, Never Look Away, Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat | Festivals & Awards | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com/.
  13. ↑ Opie, David (23 January 2024). "'Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat' Review: A Vibrant, Jazz-Led History Lesson on Colonial Machinations in the Congo". IndieWire. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  14. ↑ Gyarkye, Lovia (1 March 2024). "'Soundtrack to a Coup D'Etat' Review: Kinetic Doc Connects Jazz, Decolonization and the Birth of the United Nations". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  15. ↑ Fear, David (27 January 2024). "10 Best Movies From the 2024 Sundance Film Festival". Rolling Stone .
  16. ↑ "Soundtrack to a Coup D'Etat. 2024. Directed by Johan Grimonprez | MoMA".
  17. ↑ "Soundtrack to a coup d'état • Cinéma du Réel". Cinéma du Réel.
  18. 1 2 "Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat Nominated for Best Documentary". Film Independent Spirit Awards. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
  19. ↑ https://x.com/KinoLorber/status/1859661587168334178
  20. ↑ Dargis, Manohla; Alissa Wilkinson (30 November 2024). "Best Movies of 2024". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 December 2024. Updated December 9, 2024.
  21. ↑ Hoberman, J. (2024). "Best of 2024 | Film". Artforum. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
  22. ↑ The Complete List of 2024 Sundance Film Festival Award Winners|Sundance Film Festival
  23. ↑ DOCVILLE|'Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat' by ohan Grimonprez won the 2024 award for Best Belgian Documentary. The jury called it a "remarkable, innovative, poetic and revealing film that ingeniously and playfully brings together history and music into a captivating audiovisual mosaic." In addition, the jury praises the documentary for its highly original and unique take on political cinema. 🏆 The film was awarded €2.000 by Sabam.
  24. ↑ "Award winners Movies that Matter Festival 2024". Movies That Matter. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
  25. ↑ "THE AWARDS * 28th SOFIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL". siff.bg. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  26. ↑ "Persistence of Vision Award: Johan Grimonprez + "Soundtrack for a Coup d'Etat"". SFFILM. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  27. ↑ "Prisvinnere på BIFF 2024". Bergen International Film Festival (BIFF).
  28. ↑ "Awards Winners". El Gouna Film Festival. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
  29. ↑ Bergeson, Samantha (28 October 2024). "Montclair Film Festival Announces 2024 Winners: 'All We Imagine as Light' Takes Top Prize". IndieWire . Archived from the original on 7 November 2024.
  30. ↑ "26th TiDF: The Awards". Thessaloniki Film Festival. 17 March 2024.
  31. ↑ Award Winners 2024, Mirage.
  32. ↑ 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.
  33. ↑ Bergeson, Samantha (19 November 2024). "IDA Documentary Awards Announces 2024 Nominees: 'Sugarcane,' 'No Other Land,' and More". IndieWire . Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  34. ↑ Verhoeven, Beatrice (5 December 2024). "IDA Documentary Awards: 'No Other Land' Wins Best Feature Doc". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
  35. ↑ Goodfellow, Melanie (5 November 2024). "European Film Awards: 'Emilia Pérez', 'The Room Next Door' Lead Nominations". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  36. ↑ Hipes, Patrick (24 October 2024). "Cinema Eye Honors: 'Girls State', 'Ren Faire' Lead Broadcast Nominees; Audience Choice Award Longlist Revealed". Deadline . Retrieved 15 November 2024.
  37. ↑ Roxborough, Scott (21 May 2024). "Kino Lorber Takes U.S. Rights for 'Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 August 2024.

Works cited

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