Democrats (film)

2014 Danish film

Democrats

Film poster

Directed by| Camilla Nielsson
Produced by| Henrik Veileborg
Cinematography| Henrik Bohn Ipsen
Edited by| Jeppe Bodskov
Music by| Kristian Eidnes Andersen

Production
company

Upfront Films

Release date

* November 6, 2014 (2014-11-06) (CPH:DOX)

Running time

| 99 minutes
Country| Denmark[1]
Language| English

Democrats is a 2014 Danish documentary film directed by Camilla Nielsson about politics in Zimbabwe following the contentious 2008 election and the subsequent coalition effort to rewrite the country's constitution.

## Synopsis

[edit]

Following the contentious 2008 Presidential election in Zimbabwe, a coalition that includes Paul Mangwana and Douglas Mwonzora work to rewrite the Zimbabwean constitution.

## Release

[edit]

Democrats played at the Copenhagen International Documentary Festival on September 6, 2014.[1]

## Reception

[edit]

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 100% of 22 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 8.4/10.[2] Metacritic rated it 88/100 based on eight reviews, indicating "Universal acclaim".[3] Guy Lodge of Variety wrote, "Even the slyest political satire couldn't outdo this riveting docu study of Zimbabwe's troubled coalition government."[4] John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter called it both accessible and academically useful.[5] Glenn Kenny of The New York Times made it a NYT Critics' Pick and called it an "outstanding, unsettling documentary".[6]

Among other awards, the film won Best Documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival, Best Director at the One World Human Rights Film Festival, Best International Documentary at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, Special Jury Mention and Reel Talent Award at the Copenhagen International Documentary Festival, and Best Documentary at the Nordisk Panorama Film Festival.[7]

Nielsson followed up Democrats with the film President which explores the controversial 2018 presidential election in Zimbabwe; opposition leader Nelson Chamisa says there was voting fraud and claims he won the presidency. The government in the country has banned President from being shown. The movie won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival.[8]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Democrats". Danish Film Institute. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
2. ^ "Democrats (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
3. ^ "Democrats". Metacritic. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
4. ^ Lodge, Guy (21 November 2014). "Film Review: 'Democrats'". Variety. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
5. ^ DeFore, John (17 November 2015). "'Democrats': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
6. ^ Kenny, Glenn (17 November 2015). "Review: 'Democrats,' Chronicling Politics in Zimbabwe". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
7. ^ "Democrats". PBS. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
8. ^ Roxborough, Scott (8 August 2022). "Zimbabwe Government Upholds Ban on Sundance-Winning Political Doc "President"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 8 August 2022.

## External links

[edit]

* Democrats at IMDb
* Official website

This article about a political documentary film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template