PRESIDENT
This engrossing, award-winning and globally relevant documentary follows activist Nelson Chamisa as he runs for President of Zimbabwe, campaigning against a corrupt regime that has held power for over 30 years.
In 2018, just one year after dictator Robert Mugabe was ousted by a military coup, Zimbabwe was preparing for its first free and democratic election in decades. The establishment candidate was Emmerson Mnangagwa, a longtime Mugabe aide and the acting President, and challenging him was Nelson Chamisa, a charismatic 40-year-old lawyer and activist. In the weeks prior to the election, Chamisa campaigned tirelessly, building a momentum that seemed sure to bring true change to his long-beleaguered country. Mnangagwa’s entrenched ruling party, however, had other ideas. Bureaucratic manipulations, needless delays, and blatantly rigged results meant that the final outcome of the election had to be determined not by Zimbabwe’s voters, but by its constitutional court. The fate of the country would be decided on live television. Whether you already know the outcome of that court case or not, Camilla Nielsson’s award-winning portrait of Chamisa’s campaign is riveting to watch, capturing late-night strategy sessions and violent street protests with equal urgency. As Chamisa and his followers fight to have their voices heard, PRESIDENT becomes not just a portrait of one country’s political process; it becomes a clarion call for democracy that rings true around the world.
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PFF30 VIRTUAL CINEMA: this title will be available starting October 25 on our virtual platform, watch.filmadelphia.org
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