Soundtrack to a Coup d'État

NOVA EXCLUSIVE! Jazz and decolonisation are entwined in director Johan Grimonprez's Oscar-nominated historical rollercoaster that rewrites an explosive Cold War episode.

It is 1961, six months after the admission of sixteen newly independent African countries to the UN. As Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev bangs his shoe in indignation at the UN’s complicity in the death of Congolese Prime Minister Lumumba, the US State Department swings into action by sending jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong to Congo to deflect attention from the CIA-backed coup.

Various languages, English subtitles.

Academy Award nominee: Best Feature Documentary.