The Ambassador

A post-modern documentary from Danish filmmaker and satirist Mads Brügger. The director filmed himself playing Mr. Cortzen, a shady businessman and diplomat travelling from Liberia to the Central African Republic. Feigning plans to open a match factory, he enters the very real world of dubious postcolonial diplomacy, questionable financial transactions, and the illegal diamond trade. Largely filmed with hidden cameras, the film follows Brügger’s meetings with various politicians and businesspeople. Though we never know which parts of this satirical exposé are authentic, the effect is devastating. The film may be a tongue-in-cheek mockumentary, but it is a convincing depiction of sordid corruption and continued European domination.