12A
2hrs 30mins

Johan Grimonprez’s involving essay film, anchored by the rhythm of American jazz, reveals disturbing truths about the decolonial struggle between global political powers as it investigates the incendiary politics of the nascent Democratic Republic of Congo in 1960.

Unfortunately no Audio Description track is available for this feature.
Johan Grimonprez
12A
Documentary
Violence, discrimination, sexual violence references, strong language
French, English, Dutch, Russian
Contains Foreign Language Subtitles

A film about jazz, (de)colonial history and activism, featuring featuring Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone and Dizzy Gillepsie.


In 1960, sixteen newly independent African countries enter the United Nations, a political earthquake that shifts the majority vote from the colonial powers to the global south. Congo becomes the arena in which the battle over the UN is fought.

As Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe at the UN-top in reaction to the neo-colonial grab of the resources of newly independent Congo, UN delegates from African Countries are blackmailed. In an incredulous twist Patrice Lumumba’s assassination unites the Afro-Asian block, demanding the UN General Assembly to vote for immediate worldwide decolonization.

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