Club Screening – The Kingmaker: A Documentary About Imelda Marcos, the Woman Who Divided a Nation

In The Kingmaker, award-winning photographer and filmmaker Lauren Greenfield (The Queen of Versailles, Generation Wealth) continues her examination of extreme wealth, this time training her lens on Imelda Marcos, the widow of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Infamous for her massive shoe collection, Imelda Marcos also will be remembered for her controversial role in Martial Law, a dark period when journalists and critics were muzzled or killed, and basic rights were curtailed. The Kingmaker examines Imelda Marcos’s efforts to regain power in the Philippines. Shot over five years, it follows the former first lady – then in her late 80s – as she supports Rodrigo Duterte for president and the vice-presidential candidacy of her only son.

Greenfield interviews journalists and former political prisoners who give chilling testimony about the Marcoses. What results is a “cautionary tale of a powerful female leader whose questionable sense of reality divided a nation,” according to Greenfield’s production company. “In an age when fake news manipulates elections, Imelda’s comeback story serves as a dark fairy tale,” it added.

This event is the second in a series of FCC screenings focusing on media in Asia.

After the screening, we’ll be joined by William Mellor for a Q&A via Skype.

William Mellor is a veteran journalist and was a consulting producer on The Kingmaker. Mellor spent 30 years as a correspondent and editor for Bloomberg News, Time Magazine and Asia-focused publications. He was a London-based correspondent for Australia’s Fairfax Media group, covering Europe and the Middle East.