Coming to theatres tomorrow, Wednesday, November 18: DEMOCRATS
Camilla Nielsson’s chronicle of odd-couple politics made its debut at CPH:DOX last year. It went on to screen at Göteborg, Belgrade Docs, Tempo Doc, Tribeca, San Francisco, Doc Aviv, Docs Against Gravity, Sheffield, Melbourne, New Zealand, Zurich, and Hamptons, among other fests.
After decades under Robert Mugabe’s dictatorial rule, Zimbabwe seemed poised for greater freedoms in 2008, when parliamentary elections forced the president to accept plans for a coalition government between his ZANU-PF party and the Movement for Democratic Change opposition party. One consequence was the collaborative drafting of a new constitution, one meant to represent the desires of the people. Nielsson gains exceptional access to this process, tagging along with political rivals Paul Mangwana of ZANU-PF and Douglas Mwonzora of MDC, the two men charged with developing the constitution while engaging in grassroots community listening tours. Mangwana and Mwonzora are well-matched, consummate politicians who recognize that they’re essentially putting on a show, and respond in kind, trying to out do one another and curry favor with the populace whether through well-planned smear campaigns or out-right bribery. The result is a surprising – and sometimes shocking – inside look at the compromises made in the name of politics, one that is also funny, until the viewer recognizes its sad reality for the people of Zimbabwe.
what (not) to doc 