film

Softie

2020

Completed

Bertha Journalism

Better Futures

Producer

Toni Kamau

Director

Sam Soko

 

Production support

 

Film Details

Runtime: 96 minutes

Format: Feature length film

 

Doc Society Involvement

Docsoc helped with Production

 

Boniface “Softie” Mwangi has long fought injustices in his country as a political activist. Now he’s taking the next step by running for office in a regional Kenyan election. From the moment Boniface decides to run, telling his wife, Njeri, in passing with a hesitant laugh, he responds to each challenge with optimism. But running a clean campaign against corrupt opponents becomes increasingly harder to combat with idealism alone. And Boniface soon finds that challenging strong political dynasties is putting his family at risk. Should country really come before family, as he’s always believed?

Subjects

Activism Politics

Awards & Festivals

Awards

Best Feature - International Documentary Association () (2021)
Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures - PGA Awards () (2021)
Cinema for Peace Dove for The Political Film of the Year - Cinema for Peace Awards () (2021)
The Unforgettables - Cinema Eye Honors Awards, US () (2021)
Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film - Cinema Eye Honors Awards, US () (2021)
Best Feature Documentary - One World Media Awards () (2021)
Best Documentary - African Movie Academy Awards () (2021)

Festival Screenings

Sundance (2021) World Cinema - Documentary
Bergen International Film Festival (2020) Checkpoints Award
Durban International Film Festival (2020) Best Documentary
Guanajuato International Film Festival (2020) Best International Documentary Feature
El Gouna Film Festival (2020) Feature Documentary Competition
History Film Festival (2021) Best Independent Film

Reviews

Softie doesn't necessarily provide a 360-degree view of Kenyan politics, or even its hero (who attracted some controversy himself in the last couple years), but what we do get is pretty eye-opening.

For Mwangi, "Softie" serves as testament of the domesticity he's been absent from to satisfy the demands of his thankless vocation. But for the rest of us, it stands as a portrait of the kind of selfless...

The on-the-ground campaigning and complex history could use a better shape than the film's fits and starts.

It may take place an ocean apart from Western shores, but it's especially relevant to viewers as a cautionary tale of what results when tribalism overtakes national identity, and when leaders willfully manipulate those tribal ties for their benefit.

Fresh score.

Eye-opening as "Softie" is as an immediate account of toxic Kenyan politics, it's an equally moving marriage story, unsentimental but generously sympathetic in its study of a family brought to the brink of collapse for a greater good cause.

Softie is a compelling act of defiance, made more alarming by the violent events documented throughout the film, including the torture and murder of an official charged with keeping the elections fair and safe.

Fresh score.

Softie is a grim assessment of both the cost of revolution and modern-day manhood.

Gallery

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