Mads Brügger’s “The Ambassadors” exposes what he sees as a global scheme of political corruption and exploitation happening in one of the most dangerous places on the planet: the Central African Republic. Armed with a phalanx of hidden cameras, black-market diplomatic credentials and a bleeding-edge wit, Brügger transforms himself into an outlandish caricature of a European-African consul. As he immerses himself in the life-threatening underworld of nefarious bureaucrats, Brügger encounters blood diamond smuggling, bribery, and even murder — while somehow managing to crack amazing razor-sharp barbs at every step along the way.
Check out these photos and trailer for “The Ambassador,” the new genre-bending documentary from Mads Brügger, famed provacateur filmmaker behind Sundance Jury Prize winner “The Red Chapel”.
THE AMBASSADOR
Directed by: Mads Brügger
Producers: Peter Aalbæk Jensen, Peter Garde, Peter Engel, Carsten Holst
Starring: Mads Brügger
Genre: Documentary
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This darkly comic, genre-bending documentary that exposes the corrupt business of selling diplomatic titles to exploit the lucrative and limited resources of war torn, third world nations. Filmmaker/journalist/provocateur Mads Brügger (Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner for “The Red Chapel”) uses humor in his jaw-dropping descent into one of the most dangerous places on the planet: Central African Republic. From each absurdly terrifying and hilarious situation to the next, “The Ambassador” is a one-of-a-kind excursion from the man whom The Huffington Post has called “the most provocative filmmaker in the world.”
Financed by filmmaker Lars Von Trier’s production company Zentropa (“Melancholia”, “Klown”) to expose the violence, greed and corruption of foreign businessman in the Central African Republic, Brügger developed a new documentary style that he calls “performative journalism,” in which he creates an absurd caricature of a corrupt diplomat and arms himself with a phalanx of hidden cameras, black-market credentials and razor-sharp wit. It’s part performance art, part investigative journalism, producing humor, shocking revelations and above all a tragic picture of a failed and corrupt state.