Endangered species

MUGABE AND THE WHITE AFRICAN Directed by Andrew Thompson and Lucy Bailey. PG cert, lim release, 94 min

MICHAEL Campbell, a septuagenarian farmer in Zimbabwe who employs hundreds of people, has been dragged into a monumental conflict against his will. In recent years, as a result of president Robert Mugabe’s “land reform” policy, the country’s white farmers have been intimidated, attacked and forced off their land.

Having spent two decades paying for his farm, Campbell digs in and refuses to bow to the real threat of violence, taking the case to an international court in Namibia. Campbell’s relationship with his family and employees is well-drawn, while Mugabe’s presence seems omnipotent –

from his smiling posters to his incendiary public speeches and in the presence of his poised legal team.

There’s genuine suspense both in Campbell’s everyday life as an endangered species, and in the tantalisingly brief courtroom scenes.

This well-crafted documentary is a double-think: It’s at once an unnerving document of institutional injustice, and an inspiring story of courage and defiance.