Source: Some information on this page may have been sourced as part of the 2023 Wikimedia Australia Partnership Projects grant, with the purpose of improving and expanding the use of Wikidata on our website. Wikidata is a free and open knowledge base that can be read and edited by both humans and machines. Read more about this project here.
A political thriller that is the true story of a young African leader, elected at the age of 36 to become the first Prime Minister of the newly independent state of the Congo. Patrice Lumumba (Eriq Ebouaney) in the 1950s was fifty years before his time as he was seeking the ideal of a country free of colonial rule and a true democracy but he became a victim to corruption and powerful international big business interests. The film traces his journey from humble beginnings as a beer salesman to a voice of the people and great leader, finally to his torture and assassination. Powerfully acted and empathetically realised, this story resonates on two levels both as a personal life story of the man but also as an historical political account. Winner of a Peace Award at the Political Film Festival in the United States. A French, Belgian, German, Haitian co-production. Cast includes Alex Descas, Maka Kotto, Theophile Moussa Sowie, Andre Debaar.
Content notification
Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.
Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.
How to watch
Stream, rent or buy via
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
319136
Languages
English
French
French
Audience classification
M (15+)
Subject categories
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Foreign language films
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Africa - Social life and customs
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Congo - Social life and customs
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → Coups d'etat
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → Torture victims
Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers
Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers → Thrillers
Crime, Espionage, Justice, Police & Prisons → Assassination
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Assassination
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Colonies
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Political prisoners
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Politicians - Biography
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Race discrimination
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Social structure - Africa
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Torture victims
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → World politics
Feature films → Feature films - Belgium
Feature films → Feature films - France
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
DVD; Access Print (Section 1)