IN CINEMA

Monday, October 20th at 6PM

MOBUTU'S GAME

Congo In Harlem 17
Co-presented with Friends of the Congo, Tabilulu Productions, True Walker Productions, The Africa Center

Guillaume Graux, 2025, 216 min. / Written by Wendy Bashi, Guillaume Graux, Joost Vandensande

LUMUMBA’S SHADOW (Episode 1)

Rising in the shadow of Congo’s first elected Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba, Joseph-Désiré Mobutu gains his trust while secretly aligning with Western powers. When Lumumba falls out of favor with the West, Mobutu seizes the moment—staging a coup, aiding in his mentor’s murder, and sabotaging Congo’s decolonization in a single, ruthless move.

AUTHENTICITY (Episode 2)

After Lumumba’s death, Mobutu relies on Western support to crush a brutal rebellion, leaving tens of thousands dead and the Congo effectively recolonized. Seizing power through a second coup, he rules for 32 years under the guise of decolonization, masking corruption and abuse behind a hollow cult of personality and nationalist rhetoric.

DESCENT INTO HELL (Episode 3)

As Mobutu tightens his grip on power, repression intensifies, the economy collapses, and the elite grow richer while the people suffer. Branded a kleptocrat and abandoned by the West after the Cold War, Mobutu sees his own downfall looming, much like that of his fallen allies.

AFTER ME COMES THE FLOOD (Episode 4)

With the Cold War over, Mobutu loses his Western backing, and as Congo descends into chaos, he retreats into isolation, gravely ill and abandoned by his people. His final miscalculation – accepting Rwandan refugees – paves the way for his overthrow and exile, leaving behind a shattered nation and a legacy of conflict that would fuel one of the deadliest humanitarian crises since World War II.

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$15 General Admission / $7 Reduced Price