There’s always something extra chilling about a documentary being made in the midst of the event being recorded. Just last year, Navalny took home the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature while the film’s subject remains a key subject in the fight against Putin’s oppressive power. The idea of a current event documentary following a political opposition leader continues in National Geographic’s feature Bobi Wine: The People’s President.
I decided to belatedly check out the feature after it recently made it onto the Best Documentary Feature shortlist for the Academy Awards. It was rather surprising to see Bobi Wine on the list while Nat Geo’s other documentary, the higher profile The Mission, left off. The film follows Bobi Wine, a musician turned activist and parliamentary member who fights to win the Ugandan Presidential Election against Museveni, the current ruthless President and human rights criminal.
The film’s flaw is felt from the start, as no context is given to aid viewers in fully comprehending the severity of the situation. We understand that Museveni has taken his role as “president” and turned it into a dictatorship, sending his police force to combat any detractors of his rule. Near the beginning of the film, we follow Wine’s swearing in ceremony as he joins parliament and his fight against Museveni overturning a law that would keep presidential age limits in Uganda. The failure for the law to remain kickstarts the heartbreaking push against Bobi Wine that continues to this day.
While there is some brief understanding due to the above early events, the film (and I can’t believe I’m saying this) could really benefit from a few talking head moments. I wanted to understand Museveni’s tyranny over his country a bit more, along with the larger path Bobi Wine took to becoming a politician himself. To go from music to political aspirations in the hopes to help his country is a surprising 180 degree turn, so seeing what led him to, frankly, put himself in grave danger for the betterment of his homeland would have been appreciated as a viewer.
Scoring the entire documentary are Bobi Wine’s revolutionary raps, becoming a soundtrack to the revolution. Seeing his words placed on screen (in a hideous font, might I add), are a prescient reminder of everything Bobi Wine continues to fight for, amongst the harsh violence and imprisonment he continues to deal with as he fights for his country. (I do have to admit, the COVID-19 song did make me giggle.)
The juxtaposition of a country looking towards Bobi Wine as a beacon of hope, while the tyranny being placed on Wine and the people continues through elections and day-to-day life is striking and hard to watch. For those viewers who need the warning, death and blood are shown on screen. Unfortunately, the images’ effectiveness is felt. The destruction Museveni is causing needs to be seen for the power in Wine’s movement to be felt.
The Academy Awards tend to reward documentaries of the moment and not necessarily ones that are the best constructed. In recent years, the power in a topic might outweigh the actual filmmaking skill. (i.e. the quiet power of Honeyland being overshadowed by American Factory) With that in mind, as much as the feature has some structural issues that frustrate me, the topic at-hand should be watched by all to understand the breadth of power imbalances plaguing Uganda.
Bobi Wine: The People’s President is now streaming on Disney+.