Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat is a documentary about the four month term in 1960 of Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of Congo. It is presented by the Camas Independent Film Festival.
It weaves the great game between the US and then USSR for control of Africa, with African American musician performances in Africa sponsored by the State Department. Lumumba was deposed in a coup led by Mobutu Sese Seko at the behest of the CIA. He was later killed by separatists amidst conflicts between factions competing to rule the country. Later Mobutu gained control of Congo, ruling from 1965-1997.
The film cuts archival footage with American musicians performing and text excerpts from writings of the time, intelligence sources, news, historians, and even a play. It is a nonfiction exploration on film of emotion, idealism, and realpolitik.
The film has a short blip about mining for tantalum, coltan, in Eastern Congo by warlords - to make electronic devices, including mobile phones. The minerals are smuggled to China where the electronic parts are made. That is subject to responsible source tracing which doesn't work. Unfortunately the filmmaker does not close the loop on the Rwandan Genocide of 1994 as the cause of the warlord economy of Eastern Congo. That one would have been easy to curtail. I spoke to Susan Rice about it after a talk. It was discussed, but there was no appetite to become involved after Black Hawk Down. Rwanda and Burundi were a Belgian colonies, along with South Sudan.
Other films on the theme are Lumumba: The Death of a Prophet
(1991) and Lumumba (2000). There are many books, and it is a minor part of The Poisonwood Bible. For more about Mobutu, the film When We Were Kings (1996) is excellent.
I was in Congo just after the Rwandan Genocide and there was gunfire in the distance. I am a student of the history and current events of the region. The film was aclaimed at Sundance and picked up distribution at Cannes. The film does not seem to have any other showings booked here. I think it is in the festival circuit, maybe it will be booked in Portland in general release. It is on the shortlist for documentary at the Academy Awards.
Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat https://www.camasliberty.com/movies/297231-soundtrack-to-a-coup-detat/ at the Liberty Theater 315 N.E. 4th Ave., Camas, WA Saturday 11AM, Sunday 12:55PM, Wednesday 6 $10
