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.
Director Michael Skolnik first became interested in Swaziland when he discovered his UCLA Zulu professor was an adviser to King Mswati. Michael was invited to travel to Swaziland where he became acquainted with the Royal Family. Several years later he returned to make a film about his family and their country. Michael thought his project was going to be easy, because when he sat with the King in 2002, he was very excited about the film. But instead, the process involved night after night of sitting outside in the cold, surrounded by thatched huts, grazing cows, and very few people, waiting for the King (who only sees visitors in the middle of the night). Eventually he met and befriended Princess Pashu and was given permission by the King to include her in the film. This relationship led to virtually unlimited access to her palace, some members of the family as well as Pashu’s life in California.
This very personal documentary seemed on track, until the phone rang early one September morning in 2005, and a mysterious voice told Michael he was being watched as it appeared that he was getting very close to the King. The voice asked if Michael wanted to see the ‘real’ Swaziland, not the one behind the Palace gates or the chauffeured BMWs. Accepting this invitation to film a secret, underground meeting of the banned, opposition political parties changed everything dramatically. Now, Michael was approached by ordinary Swazis who would show up at his hotel at all hours to take him to the unseen side of Swaziland. He knew that showing all of the country would be essential to the truth of his film, but he also knew that it would make him unwelcome in some circles in Swaziland.
When the Princess was ultimately shown the film, her reaction was quite strong. It was clear that she had never seen a lot of what was shown and at times she was shocked to know that what she was seeing was Swaziland, not South Africa. No one knows yet if the King has watched it.
