11/02/2007

Goodbye Bafana [+see also:
trailer
film profile], today’s official competition film, is Bille August’s take on the special relationship that existed between Nelson Mandela and James Gregory, the white South African who became his prison warder for over 20 years.

"This is a film from the adversary’s point of view, which makes Nelson Mandela’s view even more right", said Danish born director in the press conference.

The film begins when Gregory (Joseph Fiennes) steps foot on Robben Island, where Mandela (US actor Dennys Haysbert) was being held prisoner at the time, and finishes the day the former South African president was freed. The two hours in between span over a 20-year period, in an attempt to capture how Mandela’s relationship with his prison guard fundamentally changed him as a human being.

Gregory, his wife (German-born actress Diane Kruger) and his two children had to move house and start their lives over each time Mandela was transferred, from Robben Island to Pollsmoor Prison to his final place of detention.

The film has the classic texture and structure typical of August’s work, and kept the press interested, although not fascinated. Haysbert is the living personification of Mandela, able in a few words with his restrained acting to make the audience feel Mandela’s immense humanity. August should have perhaps used him in every scene, instead of Fiennes, who is just not charismatic enough for his part.

Belgian producer Jean-Luc Van Damme confirmed that he was part of the project from the beginning, when he bought the rights to Gregory’s memoirs, originally published in French. The film, shot entirely on location in South Africa, is a French/German/Italian/ South African co-production.

It was produced by Van Damme, Ilann Girard and Andro Steinborn with co-producers David Wicht, Stephen Margolis, Roberto Cipullo and Gherardo Pagliei and with backing from the MEDIA Programme and Germany’s FFB.

Celluloid Dreams is handling international sales.