Lumumba – La mort du prophète

PROCIREP AWARD

The filmmaker was only two years old when his family left Haiti in 1962. His father was already in the Congo, where he worked as a V.S.O. teacher. Two years before, Patrice Lumumba had been killed in Katanga. A photograph found by the filmmaker’s mother featuring the Congolese leader is the starting point for a documentary devoted to the prophet of African independence. “What can be said about an assassination that took place 30 years ago ? Lumumba’s message has been lost, but his name has remained !” Raoul Peck explores the mystery of Lumumba’s death through various written and oral testimonies. His documentary is a reflexion upon political assassination.