ActivismFilm / TVJohannesburg

‘the state against nelson mandela & others’ trailer

February 20, 2020
146 Picks

In 1963 and 1964, Nelson Mandela and nine leaders of the African National Congress were brought to trial for sabotage and faced the death penalty for their Anti Apartheid activism.

While there were no cameras allowed in the courtroom for the Riviona Trial in Pretoria, there are 256 hours of never-heard-before audio. Co-Directors Nicholas Champeaux and Gilles Porte took those 50-year-old recordings and juxtaposed them with contemporary and evocative interviews with the surviving co-defendant freedom fighters and their families and black and white illustrations to create the riveting documentary The State Against Nelson Mandela & Others. The iconic and legendary Winnie Mandela appears in the doc — it was one of the final projects she worked on before her death in 2018. The film’s run (beginning on February 19, 2020) is dedicated to her life and legacy. The documentary’s release coincides with the 30th anniversary of Madiba’s release from prison.

Check out the trailer to this compelling homage to one of the pivotal moments in the dismantling of the white supremacist systems in South Africa in the struggle for Black liberation.

 

Related