AllMovie

Patrice Lumumba was the first ruler of post-colonial Zaire, then called the Congo. He was adamantly pro-African and sought to re-create governmental affairs to the benefit of the local population, excluding Europeans and their corporations from exerting the kinds of influence they formerly had. He explored numerous alternative political systems, including Marxism. Deeply religious, he was moved to study revolution when he discovered that the white people rarely practiced the principles of the Christianity they espoused. Cut down in his prime in what is widely believed to have been a convergence of interests between Europeans, the U.S., the U.N., and home-grown rebels, Lumumba has since become a secular saint in discussions of colonialism in Africa. This laudatory documentary discusses his history, life, and secular martyrdom. The filmmaker, a Haitian native, reveals part of his motivation for making the film in that his parents were part of the Haitian elite the great man imported into the country to replace the departing Europeans.