Film Forum

12:15   2:45   8:40

Danish director Camilla Nielsson – who previously chronicled the contentious reform of Zimbabwe’s constitution in the acclaimed DEMOCRATS (a Film Forum premiere) – gains astonishing access to that nation’s 2018 presidential election as Obama-esque reformer Nelson Chamisa faces overwhelming odds against Emmerson Mnangagwa, disciple of longtime dictator Robert Mugabe, and nicknamed “the crocodile.” Disputes over voter rolls and a compromised election commission, plus voter intimidation and outright violence mount as election day nears. As we Americans question the strength of our democratic institutions and our ability to agree on what constitutes a free and fair election, PRESIDENT illustrates the global scale of these issues.

Presented with support from the Richard Brick, Geri Ashur, and Sara Bershtel Fund for Social Justice Documentaries

2021    118 MINS.     DENMARK / USA / NORWAY
IN ENGLISH & SHONA WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES    GREENWICH ENTERTAINMENT

PRESIDENT is co-presented by Africa Is a Country, a site of opinion, analysis, and new writing on and from the African left. It was founded by Sean Jacobs in 2009. Sean and political analyst Jacquelin Kataneksza will appear with the film during the run. Details to be announced.

Reviews

“OUTSTANDING, GRIPPING, NECESSARY. ONE OF THE YEAR’S BEST NONFICTION FILMS. PRESIDENT is in-the-moment documentary storytelling of the highest order, and what it’s showing is what the threat to democracy everywhere looks like and will continue to look like.”
– Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times

“CRITIC’S PICK. RIVETING. [Zimbabwean presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa’s] charisma and connection to the people make him an excellent anchor for the film, reflecting and representing Zimbabwe’s decades-long struggle for a fair democracy.”
–Concepción de León, The New York Times

“A truly incredible achievement and an illuminating look into how authoritarians seek to keep people from participating in a ‘democracy’... a compelling portrait of what a stolen election really looks like. It is a thrilling, enraging film, and its intimate access to Chamisa and his advisers is extraordinary.”
– Alissa Wilkinson, Vox

“Extraordinary. (An) epic-scale docu-thriller. A brazen feat of hijacked democracy to make Donald Trump positively chartreuse with envy.”
– Guy Lodge, Variety

“A devastating, heartened report of democracy in peril against a dictator, a report that suddenly feels all-too familiar to Americans.”
– Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com

“Exudes a passion for politics that corrals viewers into the relatively uncharted political territory of Africa. Yet it is an environment that will feel oddly familiar to election junkies, who can relive the tension, team spirit and the excitement it generates.”
– Deborah Young, The Hollywood Reporter