In 2017, African music star Bobi Wine decided to run for his local parliamentary seat and won; in 2023, he’s the face of Uganda’s National Unity Platform and the figurehead of the opposition to the country’s autocratic president, Yoweri Museveni. The Oscar-nominated Bobi Wine: The People’s President—which is already streaming but returns to theaters this weekend ahead of the Academy Awards—tracks this unlikely but inspiring trajectory, one that speaks to an unshakeable faith in freedom and humanity despite the atrocities we inflict upon one another.

Bobi Wine (whose full name is Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu) embodies an aspirational story when the documentary crew’s cameras first find him—he’s a successful musician who focuses his lyrics on the plight of many Ugandans, having come from the ghetto and knowing poverty and instability firsthand. Earlier footage from the mid-’10s finds him making music videos in these communities, people of all ages flocking to him and singing along. When he eventually decides to kick off his political career in 2017, it’s no surprise that he and his message of justice win support. The power of Bobi’s charisma and positivity radiates through the screen—this is a man who unerringly believes in the potential of the political process, and it clearly resonates with his people.

Once in office, though, Bobi faces an uphill battle. President........

© Observer