London Film Festival – Mugabe and the White African

My third visit to the London Film Festival and it was back to the BFI Southbank to view Mugabe and the White African. Arriving at the BFI a large crowd was waiting outside the auditorium ready to go in, and a lot of them seemed to know each other. Turns out the stars of the documentary, the crew and their friends and families were all there as this was the first time the documentary had been screened in the UK. We were treated to a short introduction by the films producers, and promised a “surprise” at the end of the screening. As I already noticed the stars of the documentary were in the audience I had a good feeling what the surprise would be.

As for the documentary itself, it was a rather strange affair. The subject matter was fascinating. The film follows Mike Campbell, a white African farmer in Zimbabwe who is desperately trying to stop his farm being taken away from him by Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF party. Despite threats, vandalism and even being kidnapped along with other members of his family, Mike continues to fight to keep his farm which he has owned for over 20 years. He eventually takes his case to the South African Development Committee (SADC) who give a monumental ruling that he can keep his farm. It's an interesting story, and Mike and his family are amazingly strong characters who make for a great subject for a documentary.

Unfortunately, the presentation of the documentary brings down the impact of the documentary. The main problem is that the directors have overdone the presentation. Many of the scenes appear to have been staged, with glossy presentation and a distracting melodramtic score playing over the top. While done for dramatic effect I actually felt it distanced the audience from what was happening and it was sometimes hard to be emotionally attached to what was happening on screen because of the over the top presentation. The film is frequently punctuated with footage of Zimbabwe nature and wildlife. These scenes are initially quite pleasent but soon become overplayed, start to feel unnecessary and threaten to kill the pace of the movie. Towards the end of the movie these nature shots are used less and less and the tension and emotion on screen noticeably ramps up.

The best scenes of the film are the hidden camera segments. One highlight is a secretly filmed confrontation with the son of a Zanu PF government minister, who claims Mike should hand over the farm to him. It is a raw, fascinating and dangerous few minutes which raises emotions that the glossy, stagy scenes just can't provide. If the film was just a camera crew following the family, I feel it would have made for a far more interesting and emotionally charged documentary.

There's no doubt that Mike's crusade is an important one, and this film should be seen by as many as possible despite the flawed presentation. After the screening the “surprise” was a 45 minute Q&A session with the directors, producers and Mike Campbells son-in-law. This gave a fascinating insight to what life was like for Mike Campbell and family post-SADC judgment, and sadly not a lot had changed. In fact if anything things had got worse. Mugabe effectively ignored the SADC judgement, Mike had his farm burned down and their staff are regularly threatened and even beaten by Zanu PF officials. Mugabe and the White African may not be perfect film-making, but the subject matter makes this one of the more important documentaries of recent times. If you don't get the chance to catch it in the cinema it will be shown on Channel 4 next year.