President (2021)
- Reviewed from the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
Camilla Nielsson’s thorough examination of electoral fraud in Zimbabwe through a behind-the-scenes portrait of opposition leader Nelson Chamisa’s 2018 presidential campaign is a striking look at the insidious reach of corruption in the country.
Chamisa, a political underdog, hoped to lead Zimbabwe into a democratic future following years of ballot-rigging by Robert Mugabe’s administration. “Give me a chance,” he calls to crowds upon crowds of supporters. “Take it,” they shout back, willing his success.
The film grants the narrative space to unfold without artificially heightening any drama, bearing witness to a story that offers a direct and often terrifying view of the cost of democracy.