By Eniola Amadu
New Zealand’s former prime minister, Dame Ardern, will visit Glasgow next month for a talk following the screening of a new documentary about her.
After the Scottish premiere of the new film Prime Minister, she will speak at the Glasgow Film Theatre on November 21.
The movie, which won the Audience Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, will mark Ardern’s only in-person appearance outside London.
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At the age of 37, Ardern became the world’s youngest female head of government when she was elected in 2017, and she stepped down from the position six years later.
The new documentary, co-directed by Lindsay Utz and Michelle Walshe, shows Ardern’s time as New Zealand’s leader, mixing home videos filmed by her husband with unheard audio recordings from her years in office.
The film begins with Ardern’s sudden rise to opposition leader in July 2017, just weeks before her general election victory.
It then centers on her tenure as prime minister, revealing the international recognition she gained for her leadership during national crises.
This recognition made her an inspiration for feminist movements.
The documentary also covers the darker aspects of her time in office, including the online abuse and hostility she faced from anti-vaccine activists and right-wing populist groups angered by her government’s COVID-19 lockdown measures.
Data released in 2022 showed that police-recorded threats against Ardern had nearly tripled over a three-year period.
In 2023, she resigned, saying she “no longer had enough left in the tank” to continue leading the country.
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Since stepping down, she has continued in advocacy work and was appointed a trustee of the Prince of Wales’s environmental award, the Wellshot Prize.
