Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat
Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat
Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat
Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat

Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat

Unclassified 15+
Program Strand/s: Music on Film

US jazz collides with Cold War colonial crimes in this electrifying film examining the CIA’s complicity in state-sanctioned murder – and its use of popular music to cover its tracks.

It’s 1960. As the US civil rights movement swings into high gear, in Africa another movement is taking place: decolonisation. Among the 17 nations to achieve independence during the ‘year of Africa’ is the Congo. But only months after becoming the former Belgian colony’s first democratically elected prime minister, Patrice Lumumba is assassinated. In an effort to deflect attention from the CIA’s apparent involvement in the coup against him, the US turns to jazz – sending Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington and more to the Congo as unwitting ‘ambassadors’. It does not go as planned.

Winning Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematic Innovation, Belgian director Johan Grimonprez (Double Take, MIFF 2009) transforms the weight of history into a kinetically freewheeling thriller with Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat. The film is built almost exclusively from archival footage – including recently discovered recordings of Lumumba speeches long thought lost – played alongside, underneath and intercut with the music of America’s jazz greats. Seamlessly weaving it all together with editor Rik Chaubet, Grimonprez has crafted an extraordinary work that pulses to the genre’s syncopated rhythms as it lays out an impassioned case against colonialism.

“A bravura cinematic essay that intertwines jazz, history, and the taste of a spy thriller, Belgian filmmaker Johan Grimonprez’s unclassifiable documentary … is a mind-blowingly rich tapestry.” – Harper’s Bazaar


PRESENTED BY
3RRR logo

Tickets

12 Aug 9:15pm ACMI 1
Access: Assistive listening Wheelchair Accessible
Past Session
Past Session
24 Aug 3:30pm Hoyts Melbourne Central Cinema 3
Access: Wheelchair Accessible
Past Session
Past Session
25 Aug 6:30pm Kino 1
Access: Wheelchair Accessible
Past Session
Past Session

For information about the accessible services being offered at MIFF, please visit miff.com.au/access. If you require any access service, such as wheelchair/step-free access, for any MIFF session, please call 03 8660 4888 or email boxoffice@miff.com.au to book your ticket.

You might also like ...

Feature

Winner of the Berlinale’s Encounters Award for Best Film, this bold and vital documentary explores the militant activist community in France.

Dir. Guillaume Cailleau, Ben Russell / 2024 / 216 mins / Germany, France, South Korea / French
Feature

Her uniquely emotional songwriting fuelled the best revenge on her cheating husband: a brilliant second solo career.

Dir. Julia Greenberg, Dianna Dilworth / 2024 / 80 mins / USA / English
Feature

Ten animators adapt Alison Lester’s children’s book, crafting a magical mixture of live action and animation destined to become a family favourite.

Dir. Robert Connolly / 2024 / 74 mins / Australia