Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat
Celebrating Black Stories
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2h 30m
Directed by Johan Grimonprez • Documentary • 2024 • Belgium, France, Netherlands • English, French, Dutch, Russian with English subtitles
Featuring Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie
This 2025 Oscar® nominee for Best Documentary Feature and Sundance award winner tells the story of the U.S. government's jazz ambassador program in Africa and the CIA's involvement with the assassination of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba. A provocative, real-life Cold War thriller, "Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat" intertwines jazz, espionage, and colonialism – uncovering a scandal whose urgency is still resonant in today's geopolitical climate.
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