'Democrats' Documentary Takes Us Inside Zimbabwe's Politics [Exclusive Clip]

Paul Mangwana and Douglas Mwonzora, subjects of Camilla Nielsson’s 'Democrats'. Photo courtesy of Upfront Films.

Danish filmmaker Camilla Nielsson's Democrats takes viewers inside Zimbabwe’s political game, following two rival party cadres tasked with working together to write Zimbabwe’s first constitution.

Shot over the course of three years, the film begins in the wake of Robert Mugabe’s contentious 2008 presidential win—itself the focus of a documentary by British-Ghanaian filmmaker Roy Agyemang—when a power sharing deal led to Zimbabwe convening a bipartisan constitutional committee. To draft Zimbabwe’s first constitution, the committee appointed two men from rival political parties: there’s Paul Mangwana from Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF party, and Douglas Mwonzora, a human rights lawyer from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Nielsson followed the two opponents as their deadline to deliver a draft for a new constitution approached.

"DEMOCRATS is about two men who, after 30 years with one of the world's most autocratic dictators President Robert Mugabe in power, try to establish a democracy from the ground up–all while anti-democratic forces still have control of the country," Nielsson says in a Director's Statement. "It is the story of a relationship, of two men who have been sent out on an impossible."

In April, the film picked up the award for Best Documentary at Tribeca. Tonight, Democrats will have its U.S. theatrical premiere at New York City’s Film Forum, where it will screen for the next two weeks.

In the lead-up to tonight’s opening, we’re excited to share an exclusive clip from the film. In it, we see Mangwana and Mwonzora as they prepare for a press conference.

'Democrats' begins a two-week engagement at New York City’s Film Forum (209 W. Houston Street) tonight. The film will screen daily at 12:30, 2:40, 4:50, 7:10 and 9:20 through December 1.