SWAZI DOCO ON TOUR

A new feature length documentary about Swaziland is presently doing the rounds of film festivals.

The 84-minute documentary, which was directed by American Michael Skolnik, had its international premiere at the Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival in Toronto on 23 April 2007.

I haven’t seen the film, Without The King, myself but I can safely predict that many Swazis will find it controversial.

This is the blurb that the Hot Docs festival put out about the documentary. It’s pretty hot stuff so if you’re the nervous type I suggest you look away now.

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.


I think we can safely say that Channel S won’t be showing the film anytime soon.

Without The King won the special Jury Prize at Hot Docs, but at least one film critic who saw it in Canada wasn’t impressed.

Deanna McFadden on the Chart Attack website called it ‘terribly earnest’, presenting a laundry list of many of the key problems suffered by African nations in our modern world.

She says, ‘It’s not for lack of interesting subject matter that the doc ultimately falls flat, but rather the director's stereotypical and overly heartfelt approach to filmmaking.’ She concludes, ‘Without The King is pedantic, sappy and surprisingly plain’.

If you absolutely must know more, you can see a two-minute trailer for the documentary at any one of these three websites.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o37iJhBo7VU

or

http://www.berm.co.nz/cgi-bin/video/play.cgi?o37iJhBo7VU

or

http://www.pefs.us/index.php?search=Skolnik