The true story of the rise to power and brutal assassination of the formerly vilified and later redeemed leader of the independent Congo, Patrice Lumumba. Using newly discovered historical evidence, Haitian-born and later Congo-raised writer and director Raoul Peck renders an emotional and tautly woven account of the mail clerk and beer salesman with a flair for oratory and an uncompromising belief in the capacity of his homeland to build a prosperous nation independent of its former Belgian overlords. Lumumba emerges here as the heroic sacrificial lamb dubiously portrayed by the international media and led to slaughter by commercial and political interests in Belgium, the United States, the international community, and Lumumba's own administration; a true story of political intrigue and murder where political entities, captains of commerce, and the military dovetail in their quest for economic and political hegemony.
DIRECTOR
CAST
Ériq Ebouaney
Patrice Émery Lumumba
Alex Descas
Joseph Mobutu
Théophile Sowié
Maurice Mpolo
Maka Kotto
Joseph Kasa Vubu
Details
Production
Companies
ARTE France Cinéma
Canal+
Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée
RTBF
Eurimages
Velvet Film
Ministère des Affaires Étrangères
JBA Production
Entre Chien et Loup
ZDF/Arte
Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la Communauté Française de Belgique
VRT
Essential Filmproduktion
Fondation GAN pour le Cinéma
Cofimage 10