Lumumba: Death of a Prophet

  • Lumumba, la mort du prophète
© www.cinemasafricains.be
Genre : Political
Type : Documentary
Original title : Lumumba, la mort d'un prophète
Principal country concerned : Column : Cinema/tv
Year of production : 1991
Format : Feature
Running time : 69 (in minutes)
http://newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=CN0057

Lumumba: la mort du Prophète offers a unique opportunity to reconsider the life and legacy of one of the legendary figures of modern African history. Like Malcolm X, Patrice Lumumba is remembered less for his lasting achievements than as an enduring symbol of the struggle for self-determination. Peck examines home movies, photographs, old newsreels and contemporary interviews with Belgian journalists and Lumumba's own daughter to try to piece together the tragic events and betrayals of 1960.

Re-examines the independence struggle in the Belgian Congo and its leader, Patrice Lumumba, from the perspective of a West Indian filmmaker in Europe who lived in the Congo as a boy. The film includes footage from his childhood and the turbulent political events that surrounded him. It recounts Lumumba's tragic 200 day rule culminating with his assassination. Combines archival footage with memories of former Congolese political activists, former colonial officials, journalists, and Lumumba's daughter.

A film by Raoul Peck selected for the Tigritudes 2022, category "Diaspora".



France / Germany / Switzerland, 1991, Documentary, 69 minutes

Other titles:
Lumumba, death of a prophet
Mort du prophète

Subjects:
Lumumba, Patrice, 1925-1961
Congo (Democratic Republic)-Politics and government-1960-1997
Congo (Democratic Republic)-History-Civil War, 1960-1965

Languages: English / French
Languages: Narration in English and interviews in French with English subtitles
Format: Video/Projected medium

Published/​Created: San Francisco, CA (by California Newsreel), 1992.
Description: 1 videocassette (ca. 69 min.) ; sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 1/2 in.

Notes:
VHS format.
Film Originally produced in 1991.

Director: Raoul Peck
in French with English subtitles

DVD
Home Video - $24.95

CRITICAL COMMENT
"Lumumba triumphs on two levels; as a pungent exploration of a nightmarish epoch in modern Africa and a cogent comment on the very activity of sifting through the past."
New York Newsday

"An incredibly sensitive deconstruction of Patrice Lumumba and post-colonial Africa."
Village Voice

"Succeeds admirably as a meditation on Lumumba and his times and on the promise of African independence thirty years later."
American Historical Review

Source:
https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/3217610

Summary for official catalogues

Lumumba: la mort du Prophète offers a unique opportunity to reconsider the life and legacy of one of the legendary figures of modern African history. Like Malcolm X, Patrice Lumumba is remembered less for his lasting achievements than as an enduring symbol of the struggle for self-determination. Peck examines home movies, photographs, old newsreels and contemporary interviews with Belgian journalists and Lumumba's own daughter to try to piece together the tragic events and betrayals of 1960.

Director: Raoul Peck, 69 minutes, 1992, France / Germany / Switzerland

Articles

2 files

Events

18 files

Partners

  • Arterial network
  • Media, Sports and Entertainment Group (MSE)
  • Gens de la Caraïbe
  • Groupe 30 Afrique
  • Alliance Française VANUATU
  • PACIFIC ARTS ALLIANCE
  • FURTHER ARTS
  • Zimbabwe : Culture Fund Of Zimbabwe Trust
  • RDC : Groupe TACCEMS
  • Rwanda : Positive Production
  • Togo : Kadam Kadam
  • Niger : ONG Culture Art Humanité
  • Collectif 2004 Images
  • Africultures Burkina-Faso
  • Bénincultures / Editions Plurielles
  • Africiné
  • Afrilivres

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