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Unless you’re a Jacob Zuma supporter, in which case your head is buried deep in the sand, the words ‘Bell Pottinger’ should fill you with disgust.

Zuma, the Guptas, White Monopoly Capital, Victoria Geoghegan (pictured above) – together, they captured South Africa and decimated our economy, the effects of which will be felt for generations to come.

Behind the scenes, though, is Lord Bell, who passed away last year, and the team behind Influence reckons it’s time you knew the truth.

Directed by Diana Neille and Richard Poplak (of the Daily Maverick, and famous for his stinging takedowns), Influence is about Bell’s career, including his involvement with “some of the most appalling dictators and scoundrels in recent world history”.

A quick synopsis from the Globe and Mail:

…he founded his own firm, Bell Pottinger, which specialized in polishing the image of such people as General Augusto Pinochet; the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko; Asma al-Assad, the wife of the Syrian dictator; the Sultan of Brunei; and the Sri Lankan government during its war with the Tamils. His firm also earned many millions of pounds trying to convince the people of Iraq that everything was fine after the U.S.-led coalition invaded…

The documentary is framed around one strand of Bell’s life and career. When Bell was a boy, his father – a salesman – emigrated to what was then apartheid-era South Africa. Bell seems to admire the man. Three years ago, Bell Pottinger was closed down and Bell himself was a disgraced figure after it became clear his firm had engaged in inciting a race war in South Africa to benefit certain politicians and the Gupta brothers, the latter being accused of ransacking the country’s economy. It was South Africa that made his father a success and eventually ruined Bell…

Not before Bell landed a few ruinous blows himself, unfortunately.

Here’s the trailer, released earlier in the week:

Sign me up, although I’ll need to watch it with a stiff drink and a stress ball handy.

You can find further information on the doccie’s website.

[source:globeandmail]