Without the King

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Without the King

Released Apr 25, 2008

1h 23m

Documentary

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95%

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19 Reviews

77%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

The living conditions of the people of Swaziland differ vastly from those of the country's monarchy.

Robert Abele

Los Angeles Times

Without the King transitions nicely from standard operating crisis report to a portrait of a hopeful political awakening.

Rated: 3.5/5

Jun 20, 2008

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Tim Cogshell

Boxoffice Magazine

Powerful and enlightening.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 20, 2008

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V.A. Musetto

New York Post

Without the King is a fascinating documentary about a little-known African tyrant, King Mswati III of Swaziland, a country the size of New Jersey with a population of 1.1 million.

Rated: 2.5/4

Apr 25, 2008

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Ernest Hardy

L.A. Weekly

Director Michael Skolnik's generically crafted documentary on the precarious conditions of Swaziland, last functioning monarchy in Africa, is a curious mixture of banality and revelation.

Jun 19, 2008

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Cynthia Fuchs

PopMatters

Pashu straddles a particular and complicated divide in Without the King, Michael Skolnik's intriguing documentary about the last kingdom in Africa.

Apr 30, 2008

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Harry Chotiner

culturevulture.net

... the ultimate experience of Skolnik's film is seeing a country that seems about to disappear from the face of the earth.

Apr 27, 2008

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Audience Member

reel reel good bio-doc

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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Audience Member

A good documentary on Swaziland and its insistence on remaining under a monarch who seems to marry every woman in the country and lives in luxury while his people starve. You get the sense that his heir has woken up to the issues of the country but somehow you know it isn't going to end well for this King.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

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Audience Member

The problems are Swaziland seem very simple to solve. Let's start with the rumored 60 billion dollars in the Kings personal bank account...

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

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Audience Member

I don't know what to make of this other than it was fascinating and very terribly sad at same time. Incredible, I had no idea how bad conditions are in Africa.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Audience Member

Compelling view into Swaziland, the world's last absolute monarchy. The King and his family live in luxury while 69% of the country's population have to rely on donations from the World Food Programme for their meals.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

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Audience Member

Nice documentary after a long time.. something away from scandals, money making, personality focussed documentaries, as we see most these days..

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

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Michael Skolnik

Director

Paola Mendoza

Producer

Michael Skolnik

Producer

Ted Sarandos

Executive Producer

James Adolphus

Cinematographer

Martha Skolnik

Film Editing

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Synopsis

The living conditions of the people of Swaziland differ vastly from those of the country's monarchy.

Director: Michael Skolnik
Producer: Paola Mendoza, Michael Skolnik
Distributor: First Run
Production Co: Red Envelope Entertainment
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 25, 2008, Limited
Release Date (DVD): Jul 22, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA): $8.5K
Runtime: 1h 23m