Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat

On January 17, 1961, Patrice Lumumba, the first president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country only six months old, was assassinated. Johan Grimonprez, a noted Belgian media artist, presents an innovative explanation of this calamity through the rhythms of American jazz musicians sent by Washington to Kinshasa, ostensibly to demonstrate solidarity, but really to conceal the ambiguous role the U.S. played in the coup and protect its interests in Central Africa.