Nominated for this year’s Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film, and winner of over a dozen international film awards including the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award from the Sundance Film Festival, director Johan Grimonprez’ Soundtrack to a Coup d’État is a gripping documentary that examines the intersection of music, politics, and Cold War-era power struggles in 1960’s Africa.

The film explores the 1961 assassination of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba, revealing how Western governments —particularly the U.S. and Belgium — manipulated political events to maintain control over Africa’s resources. Against this backdrop of covert operations and geopolitical maneuvering, the documentary highlights the role of jazz musicians, such as Louis Armstrong, who were sent as cultural ambassadors, often unknowingly aiding in political cover-ups. Through a dynamic mix of archival footage, interviews, and historical analysis, Soundtrack to a Coup d’État presents a haunting portrait of how art and propaganda were intertwined in the struggle for African independence.