Ten years after Nelson Mandela’s passing, the Amsterdam Bijlmerbios, in collaboration with ZAM, features the amazing reconstruction of the 1963/1964 trial that convicted Nelson Mandela and his comrades to life imprisonment.
In 1964, Nelson Mandela and his co-defendants barely escaped the death penalty. This reconstruction of the ‘Rivonia Trial’ tells a story more relevant than ever.
Judge De Wet considered the accusation of high treason to be proven, but ultimately decided not to impose the highest punishment. International pressure might have been crucial.
In the almost 2-hour documentary The State Against Mandela and the Others lawyers, defendants and the son of public prosecutor Yutar recall the historical events that took place in the Pretoria court. At the time no photography and filming was allowed, only the more than 200 hours of sound recordings were retained. Documentary makers Nicolas Champeaux and Gellis Porte solve the lack of imagery with beautiful animation by Dutch artist Oerd van Cuijlenborg. The documentary was shown earlier this year at the film festival in Cannes and has already received very favourable criticism.
Human rights activist Jerry Afriyie and ZAM editor Bart Luirink will participate in a 30-minute conversation after the screening. Moderator: Nicole Santé.
