Mugabe and the White African, much of which was filmed clandestinely,
tells an alarming story from one of the world's most troubled nations.
In Zimbabwe, de facto dictator Robert Mugabe has unleashed a "land
reform" program aimed at driving whites from the country through
violence and intimidation. One proud "white African," however, has
challenged Mugabe with human rights abuses under international law.
The courage Michael Campbell and his family display as they defend
their farm — in court and on the ground — makes for a film as
inspiring as it is harrowing.
http://www.pbs.org/pov/mugabe/full.phpFilm Description
The Campbell family of Zimbabwe — Mike Campbell, his wife, Angela,
their daughter, Laura, and their son-in-law, Ben Freeth — may have
been white people determined to hold on to their farm, but they were
not in the mold of colonialists hanging on to land extorted from
blacks. They were among the native-born whites who did not flee in
1980 when Zimbabwe, the former Rhodesia, achieved full independence
and black majority rule. Embracing the new country, Mike and Angela
expanded their small farm that same year, buying additional land to
create a game preserve, with the full approval of the newly elected
government led by independence fighter Robert Mugabe and his Zimbabwe
African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party.
Twenty years later, the Campbells found themselves in the crosshairs
of a brutal land redistribution program enacted by the same Robert
Mugabe. Lucy Bailey and Andrew Thompson's Mugabe and the White African
is an inspiring and chilling account of the Campbells' efforts to
fight the government.
Mike Campbell (l.) , Ben Freeth (r.) and workers on their farm in
Chegutu, Zimbabwe. Credit: Arturi Films Ltd.
Filmed over 12 months in 2008 in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia and
Great Britain by Bailey and Thompson, with Thompson and sound
recordist James Snowden working clandestinely in Zimbabwe under risk
of arrest, Mugabe and the White African discovers a family of
remarkable courage, one that stands up to violent intimidation and
dares to take a despot to an international court. The secretly shot
footage in the film also shows the violent methods that despot used.
On April 6, 2011, Mike Campbell, age 79, paid the full price of his
courage: He died in Harare, Zimbabwe from the brutal beating he
received on June 2, 2008, as recounted in this film.
It is widely recognized that land redistribution is a ticking time
bomb in Zimbabwe and neighboring South Africa, where native-born
whites continued to own most of the land even after the arrival of
black-majority rule. To avoid violence and keep their skilled white
populations, many of whom, like the Campbells, identified as white
Africans, governments in both nations adopted cautious approaches to
land redistribution. In South Africa, such caution has so far
succeeded in averting violent civil conflict. But in Zimbabwe, by
2000, something had gone seriously amiss.
That was the year armed gangs of supposedly landless former
independence fighters, urged on by Mugabe, who had "cancelled" all
title deeds and declared all land to belong to the government, began
invading white-owned farms. The gangs squatted on the land, threatened
and beat owners and workers and, if all else failed, burned the farms
to the ground, killing those who got in their way. The land invasions
were soon exposed and widely condemned as a cynical land grab meant to
entrench Mugabe's power while lining the pockets of the ruling circle.
Adding insult to injury, the removal of so much land from productive
use sent food prices and hunger soaring — especially among poor black
Zimbabweans.
Deputy Attorney General Advocate Prince Machaya, Lead Council in
President Mugabe's legal team, at SADC Court. Credit: Arturi Films
Ltd.
When Mugabe and the White African opens in December 2007, Mike
Campbell and his family are among a handful of holdouts against
Mugabe's tactics. The film affords a harrowing taste of the constant
vigilance and physical courage required of Mike and son-in-law Ben to
defend their land. They must be ready to confront dangerous thugs — or
well-connected Zimbabweans — at all hours. They typically arm
themselves, but it soon becomes clear that cool heads, brave fronts
and fast talk are their best weapons. They must also attend to the
fears of the farm's workers and their families (some 500 people), who
face equally violent intimidation. In one revealing and terrifying
scene, the son of a government minister shows up in an expensive car
and berates Ben for not abandoning the land, saying that he wants the
farm, that there is no place for whites in Mugabe's Zimbabwe and that
worse retribution awaits the family members if they don't give up.
The Campbells realize they won't be able to hold on to their farm in a
country where the police offer no recourse and court orders halting
the invasions are simply ignored. As 2008 opens, they have two hopes.
In presidential elections that year, Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC-T) presents credible democratic opposition to
Mugabe. And, in an unprecedented and highly public challenge, Mike has
charged Mugabe with racism and human rights violations in an
international court, the Tribunal of the South African Development
Community (SADC), sitting in Windhoek, Namibia. The tribunal, created
by the 14 nations forming the SADC, is charged with protecting the
individual rights of citizens of the member nations.
Mike Campbell (l.) and Ben Freeth (r.) at the SADC court, Namibia.
Credit: Arturi Films Ltd.
On June 29, 2008, just two days after a stolen presidential run-off
election, Mike, along with Angela and Ben, suffer horrendous beatings
at the hands of ZANU-PF thugs. With hope for democratic change all but
gone, Mike and family pin their hopes on the SADC court, which is due
to hear their case in November. Their lawyers are precise and
articulate in pressing their claims. The judges are solicitous and
scandalized. Mugabe's large team of lawyers offers little defense. The
sight of Ben, still hobbled by the beating, being wheeled into court
in a wheelchair is heart-rending but also heartening. Yet it is also
an ominous sight. And when the court rules decisively in the family's
favor, the critical question remains: Does the court have the means
and the will to protect the Campbells in Zimbabwe?
Mugabe and the White African is a rare inside report on a growing
economic and human rights disaster in a country that should be one of
Africa's richest. It is also a portrait of almost unbelievable
fidelity and bravery on the part of a family that, in other
circumstances, might seem quite ordinary.
"There's been a lot of reporting on the deteriorating situation in
Zimbabwe, but we felt the white farmers' story had been mostly
overlooked and needed telling," says co-director Lucy Bailey. "For one
thing, the SADC court case represented a watershed moment in southern
Africa, where those nations were challenged to stand up for basic
human rights."
"The film is a window on what is happening in Zimbabwe now," says co-
director Andrew Thompson. "It is also fundamentally a story of the
bravery and faith of ordinary people confronting corrupt power, and
that's a story that seems to be breaking out a
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit
http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue For previous archives, visit
http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html To post to this group, send an email to
USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
No comments:
Post a Comment