DEMOCRATS

In the wake of Robert Mugabe’s contentious 2008 presidential win, Zimbabwe convened a bipartisan constitutional committee in an effort to transition the country away from its corrupt authoritarian leadership. Two men from rival political parties were appointed to the committee: Paul Mangwana and Douglas Mwonzora. Should they fail at securing maximum influence for their respective political parties on the provisions in the new constitution, dire consequences will loom. As the two begin to navigate their uncertain course, an uneasy alliance begins to form.

Filmed over three years with unprecedented access to the two political rivals overseeing the committee, this riveting, firsthand account of a country’s fraught first steps towards democracy plays at once like an intimate political thriller and unlikely buddy film.

—Cara Cusumano