Language: English
Program: Cinema of the world (COW)
Director: Bille August
Length: 2007, 35 mm, Colour, 117 mins
Writer: Bille August
Awards And Participation: Academy Award and the Golden Globe as Best Foreign Language Film.
Synopsis: Goodbye Bafana documents how Mandela became the most inspirational political figure of the modern world, poses the questions: Who is the prisoner? And who sets whom free? Twenty-five million blacks are ruled by a minority of four million whites under the brutal apartheid regime of the Nationalist Party Government. Black people have no vote, no land rights, no rights to freedom of movement, to own a business, to housing or education. Determined to retain power, whites ban all black opposition organisations, forcing their leaders into exile or imprisoning them for life on Robben Island. James Gregory, a typical white Afrikaner, regards blacks as sub-human and who is the warder in charge of Mandela and his comrades on Robben Island. Gregory speaks their language and can spy on them. However, the plan backfires. Through Mandela's influence, Gregory's allegiance gradually shifts from the racist government to the struggle for a free South Africa. Goodbye Bafana tracks the unlikely but profound relationship between Nelson Mandela and James Gregory. Through their unique friendship, film depicts not only Gregory's growing awareness of man's inhumanity to man, but South Africa's evolution from apartheid to a vibrant democracy.
