Mobutu's Game

Original Title: Mobutu's Game

Thriller, Documentary, Biography, Historical | 4 x 52' | 2025 (Completed)

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Director:	Guillaume Graux
Producer:	Kathleen Maes, Tom Lenaerts, Kristoffel Mertens
Writer:	Guillaume Graux, Joost Vandensande, Wendy Bashi

Full credits

Mobutu’s Game is a political documentary-thriller about the Congolese dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. A child of both Belgian colonialism and the Cold War, Mobutu managed to stay in power for 32 years by playing an extremely complex and calculated political game. He ingeniously tried to preserve national unity, while simultaneously serve the geopolitical and strategic interests of the West. He achieved this by forming a dam against communism in Africa, but more importantly, by safeguarding Western access to the inexhaustible plethora of Congolese natural resources. For a long time, Mobutu was seen as a caricature, a mere puppet of the West. But in this documentary series, we discover how he developed into a clever and sometimes brilliant political strategist who often knew how to turn the tables and play the Western powers. This took, however, a heavy toll on the Congolese populace. While they suffered under the terror of a bloody dictatorship and lived in poverty, Mobutu and his supporters pillaged the country and institutionalized corruption. As if that wasn't enough, the people were expected to worship Mobutu like a deity everywhere, all the time. In the end, like a Roman emperor, he gave in to a life of excess, and his paranoia took control. Mobutu's Game weaves together unique testimonies from both the opposition and Mobutu supporters into a gripping narrative. At the same time, it provides insights into a chilling chapter of world history, the consequences of which can still be felt in the Congo today. His regime, propped up by the West for decades, laid the foundation for the crisis that has gripped Congo for nearly 30 years, a crisis the United Nations has described as "the greatest humanitarian crisis since World War II".

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synopsis

Mobutu’s Game is a political documentary-thriller about the Congolese dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. A child of both Belgian colonialism and the Cold War, Mobutu managed to stay in power for 32 years by playing an extremely complex and calculated political game. He ingeniously tried to preserve national unity, while simultaneously serve the geopolitical and strategic interests of the West. He achieved this by forming a dam against communism in Africa, but more importantly, by safeguarding Western access to the inexhaustible plethora of Congolese natural resources.
Mobutu's Game est un thriller politique documentaire sur le dictateur congolais Mobutu Sese Seko. Enfant du colonialisme belge et de la Guerre froide, Mobutu réussit à rester au pouvoir pendant 32 ans en jouant un jeu politique extrêmement complexe et bien pensé. Avec ingéniosité, il arrive non seulement à préserver l'unité nationale au Congo, mais aussi à servir les intérêts géopolitiques et stratégiques de l'Occident. Il y parvient en s’opposant au communisme en Afrique, mais surtout en assurant à l'Occident un accès aux richesses naturelles inépuisables du Congo.
Mobutu’s game is een politieke documentaire- thriller over de Congolese dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. Mobutu, een kind van het Belgische kolonialisme en de Koude Oorlog, kon 32 jaar aan de macht blijven door een uiterst complex en doordacht politiek spel te spelen. Op een ingenieuze manier wist hij niet alleen de nationale eenheid in Congo te behouden, maar ook de geopolitieke- en strategische belangen van het Westen te dienen. Dat deed hij door een dam tegen het communisme in Afrika te bouwen, maar vooral door voor het Westen de toegang tot de onuitputtelijke Congolese bodemrijkdommen te vrijwaren.