Jazz and decolonisation are entwined in this historical rollercoaster that rewrites 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.
It is 1961, six months after 16 newly independent African countries were admitted to the UN. This political earthquake shifts the majority vote from the colonial powers to the Global South. As Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev bangs his shoe in indignation at the UN’s complicity in the overthrow of Lumumba, the US State Department swings into action by sending jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong to Congo to deflect attention from the CIA-backed coup. 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.CREW:
Director: Johan Grimonprez
Producer: Daan Milius, Rémi Grellety
Cinematographer: Jonathan Wannyn
Sound: Ranko Pauković
Production
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Director
Johan Grimonprez
Johan Grimonprez is a Belgian multimedia artist. His previous works include the internationally acclaimed film essay Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y (1997), the investigation into the multi-billion-dollar international arms trade Shadow World (2017, Tribeca), and Double Take (2009, Sundance & Berlin), in which Hitchcock and his elusive double increasingly obsess over the perfect murder — of each other!
Selected Filmography
Soundtrack to a Coupd'Etat (2024), Shadow World (2017), Double Take (2009), Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y (1997)
