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Wednesday 31 October 2007

SWAZILAND WITHOUT THE KING

There was a strange little news report tucked away on page ten of the Times of Swaziland yesterday (30 October 2007).

It concerned a documentary film called Without The King about King Mswati III that had won the jury prize at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.

According to the report, the documentary ‘is described as a portrait of a nation in transition and poised to fight for a better life.’

Well, that’s one way to describe it. Readers of this blog with long memories may recall that the Hot Docs prize was awarded in April of this year (six months ago) so why the Times suddenly thinks now is the time to bring this momentous news to the public’s attention I don’t know.

The Times is also dishonest about the film’s contents. As I wrote previously the Hot Docs Festival described the documentary like this:

Swaziland is Africa's last absolute monarchy and a nation at a dangerous crossroads. The people demand democracy and an end to starvation, while the king insists on banning political parties. The people want relief from a 43 per cent AIDS/HIV infection rate, the world's highest, while the king prices a fleet of luxury limousines. Against this backdrop of blatant inequality, we meet the royal family: Princess Sikhanyiso, a teenage rapper and eldest child; Queen LaMbikiza, a headstrong outsider and first of 12 wives; and King Mswati III, a distant figure out of touch with his home and country. Unprecedented access to the royals and villagers witnesses startling parallel rebellions. Terrorism and civil unrest are on the rise in the impoverished townships, where rebels will not be assuaged by the king's hollow constitutional offering, while inside the palace, an unlikely source of change makes her own plans and discoveries. The camera captures the birth of a nation's revolution, a struggle to reconcile First and Third World orders and a princess' burgeoning self-awareness in this most inspiring exposé.

The Times reports that King Mswati III’s Private Secretary Sam Mkhombe ‘preferred not to comment on the film when called on Friday.’

You can see a two-minute trailer for the film on You Tube here

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