Buy Physical Copy At:
Licensor Information
Les Films du Losange
Directed by: Barbet Schroeder
In 1974, Barbet Schroeder went to Uganda to make a film about Idi Amin, the country’s ruthless, charismatic dictator. Three years into a murderous regime that would be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Ugandans, Amin prepared a triumphal greeting for the filmmakers, staging rallies, military maneuvers, and cheery displays of national pride, and envisioning the film as an official portrait to adorn his cult of personality. Schroeder, however, had other ideas, emerging with a disquieting, caustically funny brief against Amin, in which the dictator’s own endless stream of testimony—charming, menacing, and nonsensical by turns—serves as the most damning evidence. A revelatory tug-of-war between subject and filmmaker, General Idi Amin Dada: A Self-Portrait is a landmark in the art of documentary and an appalling study of egotism in power.
Streaming Options
27111.
+25152
Rent
Release Information:
Technical Specifications
Format:
DVD
Disc:
DVD-9 (1 Disc)
Total: 1 Disc
Regions:
1 (DVD)
Aspect Ratio:
1.33:1
Audio Options:
English Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Resolution:
480p/29.97
Subtitles:
English
Supplements
Types of Supplements Included: Interview, Insert
- New interview with Barbet Schroeder
- 2001 video interview with Barbet Schroeder
- New interview with journalist and author Andrew Rice about Idi Amin’s regime
- An essay by critic J. Hoberman
Forum Member Statistics
Sign-in with your forum account to rate this release
Film
Picture
Audio
Supplements
Artwork
Release Notes on Restoration
General Idi Amin Dada
General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1 On widescreen televisions, black bars will appear on the left and right of the image to maintain the proper sceen format. Director Barbet Schroeder supervised and approved this new 2K digital transfer, which was created on an ARRISCAN film scanner from the 16 mm original camera negative.
The original monaural soundtrack was transferred from the 16 mm magnetic track. Clicks, thumps hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD and Zotope RX.
The original monaural soundtrack was transferred from the 16 mm magnetic track. Clicks, thumps hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD and Zotope RX.