The Nordic & Baltic Oscar Contenders series at Scandinavia House returns this season with select in-house and virtual screenings of films chosen by the Nordic & Baltic countries to compete for the Oscar nomination for the Best International Feature Film. As a special, limited screening Thursday, January 20 through Sunday, January 23, see the film President (dir. Camilla Nielsson; Denmark/Norway/USA, 2021), shortlisted for Best Documentary Feature for the 94th Academy Awards. *Screenings of this film event are limited to viewers based in New York, New Jersey, and California only. *
Danish director Camilla Nielsson – who previously chronicled the contentious reform of Zimbabwe’s constitution in the acclaimed Democrats – gains astonishing access to that nation’s 2018 presidential election as Obama-esque reformer Nelson Chamisa faces overwhelming odds against Emmerson Mnangagwa, disciple of longtime dictator Robert Mugabe, and nicknamed “the crocodile.” Disputes over voter rolls and a compromised election commission, plus voter intimidation and outright violence mount as election day nears, as President illustrates the global scale of these issues. (115 minutes. In English and Shona with English Subtitles)
“President is in-the-moment documentary storytelling of the highest order…what the threat to democracy everywhere looks like and will continue to look like”—LATimes
Tickets must be purchased in advance at the link above.
To download viewing instructions and an FAQ, please click here.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Camilla Nielsson was a Fulbright Scholar at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University (NYU), and in the Dept. of Anthropology (NYU), where she studied documentary filmmaking and visual anthropology from 1997-2000. She has directed the documentary short trilogy Good Morning Afghanistan (2003), Durga (2004), and The Children of Darfur (2005), about children’s rights, and Mumbai Disconnected (2009), in the Cities on Speed series. Since 2007, she has collaborated with Israeli video artist Yael Bartana on the trilogy We Will Be Strong in Our Weakness (Berlinale 2011, Venice Biennale 2011), and Demonstrators (2011), for the exhibition Re:Constructed Landscapes (Danish National Gallery / SMK). She was the artistic advisor for Yael Bartana’s What if Women Ruled the World opening at Manchester International Festival in July 2017, and Aarhus Kulturby in November 2017.
Camilla Nielsson’s first feature documentary Democrats (2014), has screened at more than 80 film festivals, and won 20 awards and nominations, including Best Documentary at Tribeca Film Festival 2015, and Best Documentary at Nordic Panorama 2015.