Made in the tradition of such true-life political thrillers as MALCOLM X and JFK; Raoul Peck's award-winning LUMUMBA is a gripping epic that dramatizes for the first time the rise and fall of legendary African leader Patrice Lumumba. When the Congo declared its independence from Belgium in 1960; the 36-year-old; self-educated Lumumba became the first Prime Minister of the newly independent state. Called "the politico of the bush" by journalists of the day; he became a lightning rod of Cold War politics as his vision of a united Africa gained him powerful enemies in Belgium and the U.S. Lumumba would last just months in office before being brutally assassinated. Strikingly photographed in Zimbabwe; Mozambique and Belgium as civil war once again raged in the Congo; the film vividly re-creates the shocking events behind the birth of the country that became Zaire during the reign of Lumumba's former friend and eventual nemesis; Joseph Mobutu. This version features the film with its original French dialogue and English subtitles.