Children of Dictators
Meet some of the most influential dictators of the 20th century through the eyes of their children.
Imagine youself as a child of a dictator with absolute power. Would history be able to change your mind about your father? Would facts effect your emotions? This 4-part-series brings a rarely seen personal perspective on history and offers a deeper understanding of the most feared leaders in the world while focussing on their children and relatives, namely Lucia Pinochet in Chile, Jaffar Amin in Uganda, Bettina Goering in Germany and Fidel Castro's daughter in Miami. How will they deal with the heritage that their fathers have left behind?
Episodes
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Jaffar Amin, Idi Amin's son (Uganda)
More than 30 years after the tragic events the son of Idi Amin meets the son of Oboth Ofumbi in Uganda and the most unpredictable journey of their lives begins... They leave Kampala for Kidepo National Park as they currently work for the same businessman who is planning to turn of Idi Amin's megalomanic dreams into reality: a huge hotel in the game park. After traveling day and night they arrive to the park. In the next few days they go for safaris to discover the park, visit the structure of the hotel and most importantly start sharing their memories with each other from their childhood to the tragedy...Eventually Ofumbi's son invites Amin's son to his family ranch where a tribal, religious and family reconciliation takes place with Muslim, Christian and local community leaders according to African traditions.
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Alina Fernández Revuelta, Fidel Castro's Daughter (Cuba)
Alina lives in Miami quietly where Cuban crowds are planning a huge mass celebration for the day when Alina's father will die. She doesn't know if she will join them though she has never been able to forgive her dad for what he caused to her and their country. We see her in her home, in the bars of Little Havana, in a Cuban radio show and in her yoga class in Miami while we visit the locations of her childhood in Cuba from her home to her ballet school where we talk to her ex-teacher who gives another perspective on Alina... The film ends in Cuba and in Miami after the death of Fidel Castro, showing mourning, celebration – and Alina.
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Lucía Pinochet, Augusto Pinochet's daughter (Chile)
Surprisingly Augusto Pinochet's daughter Lucia is approached by his father's fans in the streets of Santiago de Chile. But to certain areas of the country she is afraid to go as she fears she would be beaten up because of her father. She accepts the fact that her father was a dictator but she believes he was a good one... In the film Lucia Pinochet recalls tense conversations with her father and with the head of the secret service while sharing the atmosphere of a loving and warm family environment. Eventually she meets one of the most outspoken critic of her father.
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Bettina Göring, Hermann Göring's grandniece (Germany)
The great-niece of Goering looks like Hermann more than anyone else in the family. She struggled with the Nazi heritage throughout her life, at the age of 30 she got herself sterilized, partly to cut the genes... After decades in the US she decides to leave and settle somewhere else. The film follows her to Germany to dig for her roots, face victims of her family, publish her autobiography and find peace within herself. On this journey she is accompanied by her husband Adi whose historic reflections based on their research add another layer to Bettina's personal story in the film while show their common commitment to deal with the past.
Festivals & Awards
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DOK.Fest Munich
Facts
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Original TitleMein Vater der Diktator
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Year2016
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Length4 × 52', 90' (ENG, GER)
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ResolutionHD
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Film byEszter Cseke, Andras S. Takacs
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Produced by