Zimbabwe: How to Make and Break a Democracy
On Wednesday, Robert Mugabe, the autocratic President of Zimbabwe, was ousted and placed under house arrest by the country’s military. While Mugabe’s fate remains uncertain, the apparent coup may bring about the end of a 37-year dictatorship masquerading as a democracy. But this wresting of power shouldn’t have been necessary; it was supposed to happen ten years ago.
In 2008, international sanctions forced Mugabe to draft a democratic constitution. Danish filmmaker Camilla Nielsson obtained unprecedented access behind the scenes of a democracy-in-the-making. Her feature film Democrats, excerpted above, follows the two top political operatives steering the constitutional process: Paul Mangwana, representing ZANU-PF, Mugabe’s party; and Douglas Mwonzora, a representative of the opposing party, the Movement for Democratic Change. Filmed over the course of three years, the documentary offers a firsthand account of the fraught process of chartering a constitution—or, as a constituent puts it in the film, “giving my country a new life.”
This film was directed by Camilla Nielsson and distributed by ITVS Independent Lens. It is part of The Atlantic Selects, a curated showcase of short documentaries from independent creators.
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