President

Camilla Nielsson

Riveting account of the Zimbabwean 2018 presidential elections from inside the campaign of opposition candidate Nelson Chamisa – and its unbelievable, thriller-like aftermath. Zimbabwe is at a crossroads when charismatic Chamisa challenges ruling party ZANU-PF. But will the elections be fair? A political drama of the highest order.

Director Camilla Nielsson returns to Zimbabwe after her 2014 documentary Democrats. In the first Zimbabwean presidential elections since Robert Mugabe was ousted in a coup, 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa aims for the stars. His opponent: ruling president Emmerson Mnangagwa of Mugabe’s party ZANU-PF. Chamisa’s message of change is resonating strongly with the people of Zimbabwe, tired after 38 years of ZANU-PF’s corruption and oppression. The ruling party is getting nervous. But as Chamisa tells a crowd on the campaign trail: ‘We all know how ZANU-PF operates. When they get scared, they get violent.’

In fact, ZANU-PF is doing everything it can to rig the elections. And when the ballots are cast on election night, it turns out the real battle has just begun. A fly-on-the-wall account of Chamisa’s campaign, combined with hair-raising battleground reporting and a legal thriller about the fight for the soul of a democracy.

Credits

Director
Camilla Nielsson
Year
2021
Country of production
Denmark, United States, Norway
Type
Documentary
Duration
134 minutes
Spoken language
English, Shona
Subtitles
EN
World Sales
Cinephil