Bobi Wine: The People’s President review – shocking look at Ugandan star’s campaign

For five years, documentary-makers followed the musician and politician as he attempted to challenge the country’s reigning autocratic leader

“I am not a criminal. I am a presidential candidate.” That’s Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu – AKA Bobi Wine – speaking from inside a police van, his face pressed to the bars after being arrested for the umpteenth time. Wine is a Ugandan pop superstar; his music has earned him the nickname “Ghetto President”. This intense, raw documentary, shot over five years, follows his attempt to become Uganda’s actual president – challenging the long-reigning autocrat Yoweri Museveni. It’s an intimate portrait combined with increasingly shocking footage as his opposition movement comes under attack.

Wine is a man with intoxicating charisma, and a cracking backstory. He grew up in a Kampala slum, pulling himself up by his bootstraps, paying his own way through university and launching a music career. His childhood made him fearless, he says. At university he met his wife Barbie; at home with their four children we see what a solid rock their marriage is. Wine stood as an MP in 2017, angry at proposals by Museveni – clinging to power after more than 30 years – to change the constitution to remove the upper age limit for presidents.