Revealing movie on President Mugabe premiers in London

To his political foes and critics, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is a tyrant who drove a once promising country into bankruptcy and hunger.But to others, he is still a ‘darling’ of Africa for helping dismantle white rule and standing up to the West.One of Africa’s oldest leaders will be in the limelight again in 2013 as he seeks another term in office in elections expected around March.Attempts have over the years been made to explore the life of the 89 year-old ruler through films, documentaries and unofficial autobiographies, but he remains an enigma.Ghanian born filmmaker Roy Agyemang is one of the latest people to be granted unprecedented access to the reclusive ruler and he came up with the offering Mugabe: Villain or Hero?, which premiered in London on December 15.Agyemang argues: “In close-up, Mugabe is seen to be a fiercely charismatic nationalist with more support among the Zimbabwean populace than western audiences might expect.”The documentary questions whether the Zimbabwean ruler is the demon that the West potrays.“Aygemang’s key aim in the documentary is to discover how and why Mugabe’s fall from grace came about,” reads one of the reviews of the documentary by the BFI, which hosted the premiere of the documentary in London.The documentary was screened as part of the African Odysseys strand at BFI Southbank that is currently underway.After falling out of favour with the West following an often violent land reform pogramme, President Mugabe became hostile to the world’s major news outlets.Few journalists had access to his inner circle and Agyemang had a chance of a lifetime to establish what prompted the dramatic transformation of Zimbabwe’s long time ruler.“The answers which Agyemang finds are largely rooted in the troublesome intersection between international economics and post-colonial fallout,” BFI says in its review.“The end result is a curious mixture of documentary and personal self-discovery narrative (Agyemang’s quest for the ‘big’ interview with Mugabe is perhaps given too much prominence at the expense of greater journalistic integrity) – one which raises more questions than it ultimately attempts to answer.”Like many before him, Agyemangs has been criticised for being overawed by President Mugabe’s charisma and in the process missing a chance to critically explore his character.“It is, however, notable for providing a fresh perspective on the Mugabe story, truly engaging with the thorny issue of African post-colonial international relations, and for securing incredibly close access to an undeniably fascinating figure,” BFI said.“Most impressively, the film allows us the rare opportunity to see Mugabe as a human being, and not, for once, as a western media construct.“It’s not an especially critical work, but emerges as an important tool for broadening debate.”The filmmaker used archival news material, as well as footage of reggae superstar Bob Marley’s historic appearance at Zimbabwe’s independence celebrations in 1980.