Documentary dedicated to the historic trial of Nelson Mandela and 8 of his co-defendants in 1963/1964 against the terrible apartheid regime, the film by Nicolas Champeaux, making his directorial debut here, supported by Gilles Porte, primarily known for his work as a cinematographer, is as original in its form as it is fascinating in its content.
Mandela and his comrades were sentenced to life imprisonment for organizing a sabotage campaign as part of their struggle against apartheid, which was taking on a new dimension. The framework set up and the trial brought by the state against Nelson Mandela and his fellow activists: Govan Mbeki, Walter Sisulu, Denis Goldberg, Ahmed Kathrada, Motsoaledi, Mlangeni, Mhlaba, had the historic and international impact that is well known. The penalty hanging over their heads was death, notably in view of the terrible charges enumerated by the prosecution at the beginning of the trial…
The most famous detainee in South Africa, who spent 27 years in prison, sometimes under terrible conditions, emerged during a historic trial that took place in 1963 and 1964. On the defendants’ bench, eight of his fellow activists, who are not all Black; the defendants also included Indians and there were Whites…
From the beginning of the trial, the list of charges against the accused is terrible, with them facing the threat of hanging. And faced with Percy Yutar, the zealous, racist, and aggressive prosecutor, they decide together to turn their trial into a platform against apartheid, as a last resort, even at the risk of worsening their cases…
In fact, one of the interests of the documentary is that the trial was simply not filmed but was completely recorded in audio form. A total of 256 hours of debates! While they are a real treasure, these sound archives were long buried.
Using the exhumation of the sound archive documents from the trial (1963-64), the authors have done a magnificent job punctuated by superb visual animation of the audio documents, and especially by the poignant testimonies of the survivors. A documentary not to be missed…
The documentary’s witnesses listen again, for the first time, to their own words spoken during this unfair trial. The power of these words logically brings forth the remembrance speech, which sometimes becomes halting, almost choked by understandable emotion…
And then this choice to alternate visual sound archives, testimonies from the trial’s survivors, and animation (a magnificent work by graphic designer Aerd, where the use of black and white reflects the color separation at the heart of the fight against apartheid).
In this regard, a key point in the argument about the responsibility of the government and its racist policy is the beautiful sequence of Mandela’s speech at the trial concerning the future vision of South Africa “where Blacks and Whites will live in peace,” the very same vision that he reiterated during his inaugural address…
In 1964, the United Nations decreed the diplomatic isolation of South Africa, the arms embargo, and the suspension of cultural and sports exchanges. However, in 1976, when the police suppressed the Soweto uprising, global indignation would definitively discredit the government in power.
In February 1990, Mandela was released from Robben Island prison. In 1994, in the first non-racial elections, Nelson Mandela was elected President…
