‘The President’, documentary film, directed by Camilla Neilsson and produced by British Zimbabwean actress Thandiwe Newtown, has been shortlisted for nomination.

The documentary film is among 138 films which were eligible in the documentary category at the Oscar’s 94th Academy Awards. Members of the Documentary Branch are to vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.

The President is a political and socio documentary which takes its viewers back to the 2018 Zimbabwean elections, which some analysts in the political and social sphere described them as the fiercely contested elections between the incumbent President E.D Mnangagwa and the charismatic vibrate youth leader, Nelson Chamisa. 

Viewers of the two-hour, ten minutes documentary will get an opportunity to be in the political rally and witness more about Zimbabwe. Camilla Neilsson is not new in the socio-political films as among one of her prominent films is Democrats.

The President is shortlisted along with the following documentaries:

‘Ascension’, ‘Attica’, ‘Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry’, ‘Faya Dayi’, ‘The First Wave’, ‘Flee’, ‘In The Same Breath’, ‘Julia’, ‘Procession’, ‘The Rescue’, ‘Simple As Water’, ‘Summer of Soul’, ‘The Velvet Underground’ and ‘Writing with Fire’.

The annual Academy Awards honor ‘outstanding artistic and scientific achievements in theatrically released feature length motion pictures.’

(Newzimbabwe.com source)

President has thus far won the following awards:

Sundance Film Festival 2021 – Special Jury Prize for Verité Filmmaking, Docville 2021 – Jury Prize in the ConScience Competition, Encounters Film Festival, South Africa – Programmers Choice Award, DMZ IFF, South Korea – Special Jury Award, It’s All True 2021 – Winner Best International Film, DocAviv 2021 – Honorable Mention

(Source Aljazerra)

Who is Camilla Neilsson 

Graduated as a documentary filmmaker from Tisch School of the Arts. Holds a Master in Visual Anthropology from New York University. She has also worked as a media consultant for UNICEF and UNESCO.

Nielsson has directed a trilogy about children’s rights, ‘Good Morning Afghanistan’ (2003), ‘Durga’ (2004) and ‘The Children of Darfur’ (2005). ‘Mumbai Disconnected’ (2009), directed with Frederik Jacobi, was part of the ‘Cities on Speed’ series about megacities.

Nielsson’s documentary feature debut, ‘Democrats’ (2014), about Zimbabwe’s power struggle for a new constitution, was warmly received by critics. The film won the Best Documentary prize at Nordisk Panorama and top awards at CPH:DOX and Tribeca Film Festival.

Her follow-up documentary feature, ‘President’ (2021), also about Zimbabwe’s transition to democracy, worldpremiered at Sundance where it received the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award: Vérité Filmmaking.

Source Newzimbabwe.com and Aljazerra