Without the King (2008)

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TRIVIA

This won the Special Jury Prize at the Hot Docs International Documentary Festival.

COMMUNITY RATING

SPECS

• Project Phase: 
• Release Date: 2008-04-25 - NY and/or LA
• Distributor(s): First Run Features
• Film Genre(s): Documentary
• Country: United States
• 

SYNOPSIS

The tiny country of Swaziland is the last absolute monarchy on the African continent. Its leader, King Mswati III, faces huge challenges as his people face starvation and the worst AIDS crisis in the world. Swaziland has the lowest life expectancy in the world at a startling 31 years of age. These problems have given birth to an underground revolutionary movement intent on bringing democracy to the country. WITHOUT THE KING explores Swaziland’s Royal Family and their lavish lifestyle, replete with palaces for each of the King’s fourteen wives, a fleet of expensive cars, designer wardrobes, and school abroad for his 22 children, while also dramatically underscoring the conditions of poverty lived by the majority of ordinary Swazi people.

This disparity is highlighted by a group of “freedom fighters” who quest to remove the King from power and form a constitutional democracy. Their growing anger is chronicled in protest rallies, violent clashes with the police and glimpses into the severe living conditions prevalent in the country. But when the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is 42.6%, the highest in the world, their hope for survival as a nation begins to be questioned. In the middle of both these worlds is the King’s eldest daughter, Princess Sikhanyiso, aka Pashu. Traveling between her first year of college in California, where she contrasts her interests in rap music, fashion and American culture, with her duties in Swaziland, the Princess begins to truly see what’s going on in her country. When she returns home to attend the annual Reed Dance, where over 75,000 virgins dance for the King, hoping to become his next wife, the Princess begins to question the role of the monarchy. As her father becomes more oblivious to the dire situation plaguing the country, her own concern about a possible revolution becomes heightened. In the end, she is left to consider what will become of her country and what she can do about it.

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