Zim’s 2018 election documentary premieres on Friday
CAMILLA Nielsson’s thrilling documentary takes a behind-the-scenes look at Zimbabwe’s 2018 election that followed the ousting of the late former President Robert Mugabe.
“a free, fair and credible election.” These words of promise echo throughout Nielsson’s riveting documentary, capturing the fervour of the 2018 presidential vote in Zimbabwe, the country’s first without Mugabe since independence in 1980.
While opening with the riproaring rallies for Nelson Chamisa (MDC alliance), who is running for the presidency against the incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa (Zanu PF), Mugabe’s former aide, President is more than an intimate portrait of a charismatic opposition leader.
Considering the fraudulent electoral practices that existed under Mugabe’s 37-year reign, this election concretises a collective cry for democracy to triumph over decades of corruption and lies.
Such a desire, alas, comes with blood, sweat and tears.
Punctuating the rousing scenes of Chamisa’s campaign trail — he draws support from both urban and rural voters — is the gritty behind-the-scenes grind at the opposition party’s headquarters.
at times, the documentary plays like a political thriller as Chamisa staffers frantically gather intelligence on the outcome of what increasingly looks like a rigged election in favour of Mnangagwa.
The tense atmosphere of these office corridors is juxtaposed with the protests on the streets, where pressure has boiled over into physical altercations between Chamisa’s supporters and the security agents, who fire live bullets at the dissenting crowd, killing six.
as Mnangagwa is sworn into office, both Chamisa’s efforts to challenge the result in court as well as his supporters’ guerrilla demonstrations prove futile.
Still, this is far from a defeatist film: what President does well is to show that linear narrative is not necessarily the point in the fight for democracy. Victory might not be immediate, but the people’s hope for change will never die. President will be released on Friday in cinemas.