PRESIDENT
Discussion Guide
This Study Guide is made by: Netsai Marova, Maureen Nicol, Camilla Nielsen, Anne Köhncke, Courtney B. Cook, Phd/Education Manager, POV
Themes: Democracy, elections, electoral fraud, dictatorship/autocracy, political structural violence, election observation, media, Zimbabwe, Africa
Film Facts
Director: Camilla Nielsson
Genre: Documentary
Languages: English, Shona
Duration: 1 t. 15 min.
Production countries: Denmark, USA, Norway
Production companies: Final Cut for Real (DK), Louverture Films (US), Sant & Usant (NO)
Year of release: 2021
FILM SUMMARY
Zimbabwe is at a crossroads. The new leader of the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance (MDC A), Nelson Chamisa, is challenging the old guard, the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic front (ZANU-PF), represented by the country’s incumbent president, Emmerson Mnangagwa. The 2018 Zimbabwean general election will serve as the ultimate test of both the ruling party and the opposition. How will they interpret democracy in a post-Mugabe in discourse and in practice?
USING THIS GUIDE
This guide is an invitation to dialogue. It is designed as a tool for teachers and people who want to use President to engage pupils, students, classmates, colleagues, and communities. Conversations that center on politics and democracy can be difficult to begin and facilitate, but this guide is meant to support you in sustaining conversations around democracy, activism, politics, colonialism, and the importance of community organizers. In contrast to initiatives that foster debates in which participants try to convince others that they are right, this document envisions conversations undertaken in a spirit of openness in which people listen actively and share divergent viewpoints with care and respect. We hope this discussion guide will inspire people and students with varying degrees of knowledge about these topics to enter the conversation and hopefully stay in the conversation in order to impact change and awareness.
The discussion prompts are intentionally crafted to help a wide range of audiences think more deeply about the topics in the film. Rather than attempting to address them all, choose one or two that best meet your needs and interests.
On this website you can also find other material that can further inspire or give more insight on specific topics than this general guide.
KEY PARTICIPANTS
● Nelson Chamisa, main candidate for the opposition party/ now former president of Movement for Democratic Change Alliance (successor of the late, founder and President Dr Morgan Richard Tsvangirai), community organizer
●. Robert Mugabe, former president of the Republic of Zimbabwe (more below)
● Emmerson Mnangagwa, current president of the Republic of Zimbabwe. Longtime ally of Mugabe and was Mugabe's Vice President until 2017.
● The Political Parties - The major political parties in Zimbabwe are the following:
○ Movement for Democratic Change Alliance (MDC A) is the political party that was formed in opposition to Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF).
○ Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) is a political party that was under the leadership of former president and prime minister Robert Mugabe. Originally, the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) merged with the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU), and this political party became ZANU-PF. At one point ZANU-PF had sole control over parliament. This political party was formed and led by Mugabe, but in 2017, ZANU-PF led the coup to remove Mugabe from office. After Mugabe was removed, the ZANU-PF was led by the former vice president of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa.
○ The Patriotic Front (PF) was organized as a military and political alliance between the ZANU and ZAPU parties.
○ Citizen Coalition for Change (CCC) is the newest political party and was formed on the 24th of January 2022 by Nelson Chamisa after this upsetting loss in the presidential election. The CCC was formed after the film was finalized.