PRESIDENT
by Camilla Nielsson
SYNOPSIS
Zimbabwe is at a crossroads. In the first election since the removal of Robert Mugabe, the new leader of the opposition Nelson Chamisa is challenging the dictator’s corrupt legacy, and his successor Emmerson ‘the crocodile’ Mnangagwa. The election will be the ultimate test for both sides. How they interpret the principles of democracy, if they can inspire trust among the citizenry, not succumb to violence, and foster faith in institutions, will set the course for the future for the country. President is a riveting and epic reminder that, while specifics may differ, the fight for democracy is of universal relevance.
DETAILS
115 mins
2021
Denmark, USA
Shona, English
TRAILER
CREDITS
Directed by Camilla Nielsson
Produced By Signe Byrge Sørensen, Joslyn Barnes
A Final Cut for Real production in co-production with Louverture Films & Sant & Usant
Executive Produced by Susan Rockefeller, Danny Glover, Tone Grøttjord-Glenne
Co-Produced by Anne Köhncke, Anita Rehoff Larsen
In co-production with ZDF Arte, BBC Storyville
With the support of Danish Film Institute, Norwegian Film Institute, Nordisk Film & Tv Fond, International Media Support, IDA Enterprise Documentary Fund, Creative Europe - The Media Programme of the European Union, Danida, Fritt Ord Foundation, Bertha Foundation, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, Open Society Foundations
In collaboration with DR, VPRO, SVT, NRK, ERR
BIOGRAPHY
DIRECTOR - CAMILLA NIELSSON
From 1997 to 2000, Camilla Nielsson was a Fulbright Scholar at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and a member of the anthropology department, focusing on documentary filmmaking and visual anthropology. She directed Good Morning Afghanistan (2003), Durga (2004), Children of Darfur (2005),and Mumbai Disconnected (2009). Her feature documentary Democrats (2014) won 20 awards and nominations, including Best Documentary Feature at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival.
PRODUCER - SIGNE BYRGE SORENSEN
Signe Byrge Sørensen is a three-time Oscar® nominee for producing The Act of Killing (2012), The Look of Silence (2014) and Flee (2021). She was nominated for the Producers Guild Award in 2016 for The Look of Silence and 2021 for Flee, and won or was nominated for Cinema Eye Awards for the production of all these films. She has been a producer since 1998 and founded Final Cut for Real ApS in 2009. Other recent titles include President (2021) by Camilla Nielsson, Our Memory Belongs to Us (2021) by Rami Farah, and Songs of Repression by Marianne Hougen-Moraga and Estephan Wagner (2020).She holds an MA in International Development Studies and Communication Studies from Roskilde University, Denmark and attended EURODOC in 2003, EAVE in 2010 and ACE in 2018. In 2014, Sørensen received the Roos Award, given for an extraordinary contribution to Danish documentary film.
PRODUCER - JOSLYN BARNES
Among the feature films Joslyn Barnes has been involved with producing since co-founding Louverture Films with Danny Glover and partners Susan Rockefeller, Sawsan Asfari and Tony Tabatznik of the Bertha Foundation are: the César nominated BAMAKO by Abderrahmane Sissako; Elia Suleiman’s THE TIME THAT REMAINS; Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s 2010 Cannes Palme d’Or winner UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES, CEMETERY OF SPLENDOUR and Cannes Jury Prize winner MEMORIA; Deepak Rauniyar’s WHITE SUN; Lucrecia Martel’s multiple award winner ZAMA; Nadine Labaki’s 2018 Cannes Jury Prize winner CAPERNAUM, nominated for the César, BAFTA and Oscar® awards for Best Foreign Film; Hilal Baydarov’s IN BETWEEN DYING and CRANE LANTERN; PRAYERS FOR THE STOLEN by Tatiana Huezo, and EAMI by Paz Encina. Among the documentaries are: Tia Lessin and Carl Deal’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner and Emmy® and Oscar® nominated TROUBLE THE WATER; Göran Hugo Olsson’s BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975, CONCERNING VIOLENCE and THAT SUMMER; Eugene Jarecki’s Sundance Grand Jury prize, Peabody and Grierson winner THE HOUSE I LIVE IN; Tala Hadid’s HOUSE IN THE FIELDS and the forthcoming FOREST OF STONE; the Oscar® nominated and Emmy® winning STRONG ISLAND by Yance Ford; the Oscar® and Emmy® nominated HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING by RaMell Ross; ANGELS ARE MADE OF LIGHT by James Longley; AQUARELA and GUNDA by Victor Kossakovsky; and Lucrecia Martel’s forthcoming CHOCOBAR. In 2017, Barnes was the recipient of both the Cinereach Producer Award and the Sundance Institute | Amazon Studios Producer Award. In 2010, 2018 and 2019 she was nominated for the Emmys®, and in 2018 won the Emmy® for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. In 2018 and 2019 she earned Oscar® Nominations for best Documentary Feature. Barnes is an Executive Committee Member of the Documentary branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and a Co Founder and Executive Board member of DOC-A (Documentary Africa), an ecosystem-building initiative based in Nairobi and led by Mohamed Saïd Ouma of Comoros, that supports interconnected initiatives in content creation, mentored fellowships, labs, audience engagement and distribution assistance across the African continent.
SELECT FESTIVALS & AWARDS
SUNDANCE 2021 - SPECIAL JURY AWARD FOR CINEMA VERITÉ FILMMAKING〡CPH:DOX 2021
GRIERSON AWARDS 2022 - NOMINEE BEST SINGLE INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY〡CINEMA EYE HONORS AWARD 2021 - NOMINEE OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION〡GOTHAM AWARDS 2021 - NOMINEE BEST DOCUMENTARY〡FIPADOC 2022〡NEW ZEALAND IFF 2021〡SYDNEY FF 2021〡BERGEN IFF 2021〡ZURICH FF 2021〡DMZ 2021 - SPECIAL JURY PRIZE〡DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY 2021〡DOKUFEST 2021〡DOCAVIV 2021 - HONORABLE MENTION〡THESSALONIKI 2021〡AFI DOCS 2021〡ENCOUNTERS 2021 - BEST INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY〡DOCVILLE 2021 - SPECIAL JURY PRIZE〡BIOGRAFILM 2021〡ONE WORLD 2021〡DOK.FEST MÜNCHEN 2021〡IT'S ALL TRUE 2021 - BEST INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY
PRESS
"Extraordinary... Vital... Nielsson has a knack for excavating savage drama from administrative process and politesse."
- Guy Lodge, Variety
"An outstanding, gripping, necessary documentary... 'President' is in-the-moment documentary storytelling of the highest order"
- Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times
"Riveting"
- Concepción de León, New York Times