“There is what Congolese novelist In Koli Jean Bofane refers to in the film as an ever-evolving 'algorithm of Congo Inc': an algorithm perfected somewhere between Washington, London, Brussels and Kigali, where Congo Inc. has become the global supplier delivering strategic minerals to take war into space. The thesis of Congo Inc. is that every major war largely consumed and was able to be fought thanks to minerals that were provided by the Congo. In the First World War it was rubber; during the Second World War the high-grade uranium; in Vietnam it was the copper of the endless bullets that were shipped there; and now the strategic materials to take war into space.” (Johan Grimonprez)
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
United Nations, 1961: the Global South ignites a political earthquake, jazz musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach crash the Security Council, Nikita Khrushchev bangs his shoe, and the U.S. State Department swings into action, sending jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong to the Congo to deflect attention from the CIA-backed coup. Director Johan Grimonprez explores a moment when jazz, colonialism, and espionage collided.
What's On
A Private Life Vie privée
Rebecca Zlotowski
Monday, 24. 08. 2026 / 18:15 / Main Hall
When prominent psychiatrist Lilian Steiner learns of the death of one of her patients, the news deeply shakes her. Convinced that it is a murder, she decides to investigate the matter.
The General The General
Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman
Monday, 24. 08. 2026 / 20:30 / Congress Square
Bitter Christmas Amarga Navidad
Pedro Almodóvar
Monday, 24. 08. 2026 / 20:30 / Main Hall
Bitter Christmas tells two alternating stories. One takes place in 2004 and stars an advertising director Elsa during a long weekend in December. The other, set in the present, features Raúl, a cult director working on a new script. Soon we discover Raúl is writing about Elsa, her boyfriend Bonifacio, and her friends Patricia and Natalia… Almodóvar’s—always stylish—latest comes straight from Cannes!