Soundtrack to a Coup-d’Etat
Thursday, April 10th, 7:00pm
East Side Freedom Library
1105 Greenbrier St, St Paul, MN 55106
“A movie that should be watched by everyone, whether to understand art or the backbone of our political and economic system.“
-Elisa Guimarães, Collider
Join us for a FREE SCREENING of Johan Grimonprez’s masterful documentary Soundtrack to a Coup-d’Etat.
Synopsis
United Nations, 1960: the Global South ignites a political earthquake, jazz musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach crash the Security Council, Nikita Khrushchev bangs his shoe, and the U.S. State Department swings into action, sending jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong to Congo to deflect attention from the CIA-backed coup. Director Johan Grimonprez captures the moment when African politics and American jazz collided in this magnificent essay film, a riveting historical rollercoaster that illuminates the political machinations behind the 1961 assassination of Congo’s leader Patrice Lumumba. Richly illustrated by eyewitness accounts, official government memos, testimonies from mercenaries and CIA operatives, speeches from Lumumba himself, and a veritable canon of jazz icons, Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat interrogates colonial history to tell an urgent and timely story of precedent that resonates more than ever in today’s geopolitical climate.
This film is not yet rated. Parents are encouraged to use their own discretion.
This film will be screened in English with English subtitles.
REGISTRATION REQUESTED