AFI-Discovery Channel SILVERDOCS 2009

Since 2000, when Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe began his violent “land reform” program, the country has descended into chaos, the economy has collapsed and millions of Zimbabweans have suffered because of famine, illness, drought and economic hardship. Most white-owned farms have been reallocated to friends and officials of the Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front who have little knowledge, experience and, in many cases, interest in farming. Food production has crashed and extensive corruption has scared off foreign investors. Michael Campbell is one of the few hundred white farmers left and, like the hundreds of white farmers before him, he has suffered years of invasions and violence at his farm, which is also home to 500 black workers and their families. Nearly a decade into Mugabe’s regime, 75-year-old grandfather Mike has managed—just barely—to hold onto his farm. But he is unable to call upon the protection of Zimbabwean authorities and unable even to rely on the support of the dwindling numbers of white farmers around him, who all face the same brutal intimidation. In a desperate measure, Mike and his family take the unprecedented step of challenging Robert Mugabe before the South African Development Community international court, charging him and his government with racial discrimination and human rights violations.  The press is banned in Zimbabwe, making this film not only an account of one family’s daring but perhaps also the outside world’s only glimpse of what it is like for white farmers inside Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. The film stays firmly rooted in Mike’s story and leaves it to the viewer to grapple with and contextualize the complexities of Zimbabwe’s colonial history.

Filmmaker Q&A

Introduce yourself:
The directors are Lucy Bailey and Andrew Thompson

Lucy Bailey - Director
Lucy has over ten years experience as a director in television, with the majority of shooting on the African continent, often covering sensitive subjects. Lucy has a background in anthropology and a huge passion for Africa. Lucy specializes in bringing emotion to the forefront in her films, including LORENZO’S OIL- MIRACLE OR MYTH, BBC (04), and SAVING PLANET EARTH- SAVING TURTLES, BBC (07). Lucy has recently been working for Comic Relief to make their appeal films for Red Nose Day (07) and Sport Relief campaigns (06, 08).

Andrew Thompson - Director & Cinematographer
Andrew has over 12 years experience filming all over the world for C4, BBC, National Geographic and Discovery. Whilst most of his time is spent as a DOP, he increasingly has focused on directing. He shoots on all formats from Super 16mm to HD. He has extensive film making experience in hostile environments and has worked in many parts of Africa. Previous credits include: Sex Traffic C4 (08), Inside The Kingdom BBC (07), Brain Keenan in Lebanon BBC (07), Ross Kemp in Afghanistan SKY (07), Geldolf on Africa (04).

Lucy and Andrew have filmed together on many occasions, and have developed a unique style and way of working. This is their first feature length documentary. In 2008 they formed Explore Films.

What inspired this film?   How did you find your subjects?
We both spend a lot of time in Africa and there are so many incredible stories from there that need to be told, it’s a huge source of inspiration to us. We were aware of the land seizure issue in Zimbabwe and always thought it would be an interesting story to tell. It was while we were actually in South Africa that we heard about a man who was taking Robert Mugabe to an international court. We thought anyone willing to stand up to a tyrant must be an amazing character, and when we met Mike and Ben that was the case. We realized they were strong enough to make this film work, and through the story of the family we could tell the wider story of Zimbabwe and Mugabe’s land reform program.

What were some of the biggest challenges/surprises?
Without a doubt the biggest issue for us was the financing. While initially we funded the recce ourselves, we knew that we would not be able to complete such an ambitious film alone and that were aware that raising finance amongst broadcasters and public funders for a subject matter as contentious as this would require experience and relationships that we didn’t have, which is why we approached producers David Pearson and Lizzie Morgan Hemlock at Arturi Films. Two public funding awards from the Film Agency for Wales and our post production deal with Molinare followed, which was fantastic, but these still did not cover the full costs of the film and so as the directors and producers we have all contributed financially to getting it made. The film has been a huge gamble for all of us - and it still is.

We always wanted to make a film that was well shot and crafted. A film with this level of high production values, filmed in a dangerous country with restrictions on what we could film, can’t just be shot from the hip. The logistics of filming illegally meant our forward planning had to be watertight; the risk assessment reports were a nightmare! The edit was demanding and was quite a collaborative effort. With David, and Tim our editor, we worked out the narrative and were able to combine the back-story and the actuality in a gripping way, taking the audience deep into the family’s world.

The story as a whole also evolved over a much longer time period than we had expected due to the fact the court case kept getting postponed, and so it began to take over our lives!

Who are some of your favorite filmmakers?
We are influenced by people from both the factual documentary world and Hollywood drama

Kevin MacDonald, Brian Woods, Sofia Coppola, Danny Boyle, Phil Agland and Paul Greengrass.

What is your all time favorite documentary?
Lucy- DARWIN’S NIGHTMARE

Andrew- ETRE ET AVOIR

What other projects are in the pipeline?
We do have some other great African ideas we’d like to make! We have other projects and ideas in development both for TV and theatrical.

Why did you become a filmmaker?
Lucy- because I felt it was the most powerful medium to reach lots of people, I love the combination of the practical and artistic sides to it, and the fact you have such privileged insights into other lives and different parts of the world.

Andrew- filming gives you a great opportunity to jump in and out of peoples lives and tell their extraordinary stories, it was never going to be a boring life!

What are some of your creative influences?
Landscape. A sense of place and atmosphere. Music and Art.

Did you go to film school?
Neither of us went to film school. We both studied other things at university, and then learned the filmmaking side of things on the job.

What do you shoot on?
We shot on a large format DVCAM camera because we wanted to make the most cinematic film we could (allowing for the problems of filming in Zimbabwe) and this was all we could afford.

What has been the most unexpected thing to happen since taking the film on the festival circuit?
We never realized that once you have made the film you are really only half way done- it took us by surprise how much work is involved in terms of marketing strategy and outreach and getting your film seen.

Why did you want to screen your film at SILVERDOCS?
We had just finished our film so the timing was just right- SILVERDOCS has got a great reputation, and its an ideal platform for a US launch. Because our film has political elements we felt Washington was a great place for us, specifically in terms of what we hope to achieve with the outreach plans we’re working towards.