Camilla Nielsson
President
Part of
President

President

Camilla Nielsson

2021
115 min.
Denmark, Norway and United States
English and Shona
Subtitles: Catalan and Spanish

Nelson Chamisa wants to transform Zimbabwe. The first election campaign of the post-Mugabe era turns into a frenetic clash between democracy and dictatorship.

Datasheet

Show
Direction
Camilla Nielsson
Executive Production
Danny Glover, Susan Rockefeller
Production
Signe Byrge Sørensen, Joslyn Barnes
Co-production
Anita Rehoff Larsen, Anne Köhncke
Music
Jonas Colstrup
Cinematography
Henrik Bohn Ipsen
Synopsis

After 37 years of Robert Mugabe's regime, Zimbabwe is at a turning point. Nelson Chamisa becomes the new opposition leader and his charisma drives the most powerful election campaign in history. The whole country is mobilising for change, but the old police force led by Emmerson "The Crocodile" Mnangagwa is willing to do anything to hold on to power. An inspiring and shocking chronicle of the struggle for democracy in a corrupt, military-controlled system. A political thriller of unprecedented intensity, a frenetic clash between democracy and dictatorship.

Interview with the director

About the direction
Camilla Nielsson

Camilla Nielsson

Director

Camilla Nielsson was a Fulbright Scholar at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University (NYU), and...

Awards and festivals

DMZ Film Festival
Korea, 2021
Encounters Film festival
United Kingdom, 2021
FIPADOC International Documentary Festival
Biarritz (France), 2022
DOK.fest München
Germany, 2021
CPH:DOX
Denmark, 2021
Sundance Film Festival
United States, 2021
Camilla Nielsson
President
Watch the trailer
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Reviews

In her documentary (which is more like a thriller), Camilla Nielsson shows how to destroy all pretensions of democracy in ten easy steps. (...) Nielsson shows that, in the world of politics, a happy ending is just the beginning. And that democracy must be built steadily, because for some, the old ways are always much more attractive.

— Marta Balaga, Cineuropa
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