History lesson: White colonial powers conspire in Congo coup

 

On our flight home yesterday from Iowa, MB and I watched this Sundance award winning artistic film on the plane. 

It is just beyond amazing and I can't recommend it enough. You will learn alot about how the bullshit western control machine works.

You won't regret watching it. See the full film above for a taste of this creative historical masterpiece.

Bruce

Jazz and decolonization are entwined in this historical roller coaster 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 the admission of sixteen newly independent African countries to the UN, a political earthquake that 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 [though we were told his show pounding was a threat against Washington], 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.

The CIA and European powers like Belgian are exposed to the light of truth in this very powerful historical film. 

A sensation when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D’ETAT is where jazz and world politics collide. 

Cultural icons like Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Maya Angelou, Max Roach, Nina Simone, and Walt Disney get entwined in a forgotten episode of the Cold War. 

This story of the undermining of African self determination feels like a John Le Carre spy thriller. But sadly, it's all true. And that action from the early 1960's is still being felt today, as we see a country again racked by violence and instability. 

From filmmaker Johan Grimonprez, this audacious film, SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D’ETAT was recently nominated for an Oscar Award for Best Documentary. 

Join us as we welcome Johan Grimonprez on INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE, starting now.