In 1960, sixteen newly independent African countries enter the United Nations, a political earthquake that shifts the majority vote from the colonial powers and the U.S. 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.

In this highly explosive context, the United States government dispatches the like of Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie or Nina Simone as Jazz Ambassadors around the world – as a diversion from CIA-backed coups.

This post-colonial struggle for Congo’s resources is told from the unique perspective of Andrée Blouin, a neglected pioneer of female emancipation and independence throughout Africa; Conor Cruise O'Brien, an Irish diplomat who denounced the UN failure and crooked Western policies in the Congo; And In Koli Jean Bofane, a renowned Congolese writer who has worked on social and political violence in Central Africa.

Director
Johan Grimonprez

Date of Release
2024

Running time
150 min

Rating
12A

Country of origin
Belgium, France, Netherlands

Language
Dutch, English, Russian, French, Arabic (English subtitles)