Doc Stars of the Month: Boniface and Njeri Mwangi, 'Softie'

Premiering at Sundance, going on to open Hot Docs, and now set to air on POV October 12, Nairobi-based director Sam Soko’s Softie is both inspirational character study and unnerving cautionary tale (at least for those of us here in the West who’ve long taken our democracy for granted and may now be paying a costly price). The film follows Boniface “Softie” Mwangi, a grassroots activist-turned-politician, as he faces down his country’s entrenched corruption — paying for votes, power-brokering behind closed doors, and police blithely gunning down protestors is all just business as usual in Kenya — by doing the unthinkable: Running a clean campaign. And by Mwangi’s side is his wife, Njeri, who likewise does the unthinkable — allows herself (and their three young children) to be out in public and in front of Soko’s lens. She proudly supports the unlikely candidate for regional office as he battles to overcome overwhelming skepticism and outright hostility with unbridled optimism and heartfelt idealism, all while knowing exactly where the nonstop threats to her husband’s life might very well lead. Which is why Documentary is honored to feature this heroic, change-making couple — who are also the co-founders of Kenya’s artist-activist hub Pawa254 — as our October Doc Stars of the Month.

To read my interview visit Documentary magazine.