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EVENT, SCREENING

General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait

Ongoing

Location: Redstone Theater

Dir. Barbet Schroeder. 1974, 92 mins. DCP. With Idi Amin. Barbet Schroeder’s insider documentary on murderous Ugandan dictator Idi Amin is an unprecedented journalistic endeavor and uniquely queasy, shockingly funny cinematic experience. General Idi Amin Dada follows its larger-than-life subject around as he challenges colleagues to a swimming match, plays the accordion, talks to wildlife while boating through a reserve and philosophizes about world politics. This is Idi Amin as he wanted to be seen—thus “A Self Portrait”—no matter how buffoonish and ineffectual he might ultimately appear. The question of how a filmmaker can and should grapple with the murderous madmen of his era has a long history, but Barbet Schroeder’s succinct answer seems to be to let them crucify themselves. 

Preceded by an episode of Heil Honey, I’m Home (Dir. Juliet May, 1990, 25 mins.), a controversial British sitcom that mocks Hitler and Eva Braun’s life in 1930s Berlin in a singularly irreverent vein, and Muzak: A Tool of Management (Dir. Joshua Oppenheimer, 2002, 3 mins.), an early short by Joshua Oppenheimer in which an interview with an Indonesian death squad leader is flippantly underscored by a goofy soundtrack. Followed by a Skype discussion with Heil Honey producer Geoff Atkinson.
Tickets: $15 ($11 seniors and students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / free for children under 3 and Museum members at the Film Lover and Kids Premium levels and above). Order tickets online.(Members may contact [email protected] with questions regarding online reservations.)

Ticket purchase includes same-day admission to the Museum (see gallery hours). View the Museum’s ticketing policy here. For more information on membership and to join online, visit our membership page.

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