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.

mit / estrelado / starring / avec
Patrice Emery Lumumba, Raoul Peck

um filme de / a film by / un film de / ein film von
Raoul PECK

France / Germany / Switzerland, 1991, Documentary, 1h08, Color, 16mm

Titles | Titres :
LUMUMBA, LA MORT DU PROPHÈTE
Lumumba, death of a prophet

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



Producers | Producteurs : Raoul Peck, Andreas Honneger

Director | Réalisateur : Raoul Peck
Screenplay | Scénario : Raoul Peck
Cinematographers | Chefs opérateurs : Matthias Kälin, Philippe Ros
Sound | Ingénieurs du son : Eric Vaucher, Martin Witz
Editing | Montage : Ailo Auguste-Judith, Eva Schlensag, Raoul Peck
production Manager | Directrice de production : Dagmar Jacobsen
Montage : Eva Schlensag, Aïlo Auguste, raoul Peck

Production :
Velvet Film GmbH / Cinéramma GmbH / DRS / la Sept / RTBF

Distribution :
* Velvet film / www.velvet-film.com
* California Newsreel (San Francisco) / http://newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=CN0057
* Cinémamma (Zurich)


PRIX / AWARDS / DIFFUSION
* Mention spéciale, Festival d'Amiens, 1991
* Premio Agip 1991, Milano, Italie
* Prix du meilleur documentaire, Festival de Fribourg, 1992
* Prix de la Procirep, Festival du Réel, Paris, 1992
* Prix du meilleur documentaire, Festival Vues d'Afrique, Montréal, 1992
* Prix Ban Zil Kreyol, Festival Vues d'Afrique, Montréal, 1992
* Prix du meilleur documentaire, Festival Images Caraïbes, Martinique, 1992
* Prix Paul Robeson, festival Panafricain du Film et de la Télévision, Ouagadoudou, Burkina Faso, 1993
* Special Merit, NBPC, Colombus, Ohio, USA
* 1er Prix de l'Atelier " Politique de Développement " de la Télévision Allemande, 1994
* Diffusion à La Cinémathèque de Toulouse : 19 juin 2002
* Sélection "Peuples de Congos", Festival de Douarnenez 2018 / www.festival-douarnenez.com/fr/films/lumumba-la-mort-dun-prophete/
/// 2021 | Cannes Classics | Festival de Cannes | Cannes (France)
* Sélectionné pour le Tigritudes 2022, dans la catégorie "Diaspora".


Fuente / Fontes / Our Source / Quelle / Nos Sources (MAIS INFORMAÇÕES / READ MORE / PLUS D'INFOS) :
- Africiné Magazine
- www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/lumumba-la-mort-du-prophete/
- www.festival-cannes.com/f/lumumba-la-mort-du-prophete/
- www.festival-cannes.com/en/2021/lumumba-death-of-a-prophet-shines-a-light-on-the-tragic-fate-of-the-first-leader-of-the-independent-congo/
- https://mk2films.com/film/lumumba-death-of-a-prophet/
- http://newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=CN0057
- www.festival-douarnenez.com/fr/films/lumumba-la-mort-dun-prophete/
- https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/3217610
- www.justwatch.com/us/movie/lumumba-death-of-a-prophet
- www.cinemasafricains.be
Updated by Thierno DIA, 24 Dec 2024

Summary for official catalogues