It may only be the 14th of January in 2010, but I think I’ve just seen the best film of the decade. If I see another film that is better than this in the near future, I will be amazed.
‘Mugabe And The White African’ is a documentary following one white farming family as they try to take the Mugabe government to an international court to dispute the legality of the Zimbabwean land-grab programme of the last 10-15 years.
Whilst Mugabe and the farmer never meet face to face, Mugabe’s influence is felt heavily in their everyday life, from intimidation tactics by his war veterans to delaying tactics in court by his lawyers. The documentary uses voiceover excerpts from Mugabe’s speeches over the years to illustrate the sheer power that the man wields in the country.
Shot covertly and under major threat of being discovered, this truly is a harrowing tale of how a country can be absolutely destroyed by the megalomaniac tendencies of just one man.
I’m usually not one for hyperbole when it comes to reviewing and describing films, books, TV shows and the like, but this film is genuinely the best thing I’ve seen in many, many years. I’ve not felt an emotional connection to a film like this before, and I spent at least the whole final third with tears in my eyes and running down my cheeks.
It’s a film about bravery, about stoicism in the face of absolutely soul-crushing hatred, and about being prepared to sacrifice everything in order to fight the good fight. It’s also a film about family, about love and about love for one’s homeland.
Whilst I’ve learnt a lot about Zimbabwe over the last few years from the girlfriend and from getting interested in the subject, this film really did open my eyes to the levels of racism and strife that are being fermented in the country. The racism is something else, and for someone who has grown up in a multi-cultural society and doesn’t have a racist bone in his body, it is horrifying.
It genuinely blows my mind that people can base any kind of decision purely on someone’s skin colour, but Mugabe and his supporters have done just that for over 30 years. The white farmer(s) in the title aren’t old-school colonialists; they’re all born and bred Zimbabweans, trying to work a farm in the country.
They employ and support a community of over 500 people, and it’s the effect on these kinds of people that the land-grab scheme just does not think about. The land is given to some friend of the government, and then left to ruin. Not only are the white family forcibly evicted and basically kicked out of the country, but their employees and their families are left to ruin.
The whole (tiny) cinema was sniffing and crying throughout, with some scenes truly disturbing and heartbreaking, but necessary. It doesn’t pull any punches, but at the same time it doesn’t dwell on the negatives more than it has to.
If it is on anywhere near you, track it down and go see it. Get the DVD, download it, watch it on TV. This is an important film, one which truly displays the lowest lows and highest highs of human nature.
I could go on about this film for many more paragraphs, such an impact has it had on me. I’m still seeing the faces in front of me, hearing their voices and living their story.
This film needs to be seen. It needs a bigger audience and it deserves one.
