In 1962, at the height of oppression in apartheid South Africa, a gay white theatre Director was arrested with Nelson Mandela. His name was Cecil Williams. This is his story. This film is an unusually revealing portrait of one of the historic figures behind Nelson Mandela’s long struggle for freedom in South Africa. In the early 60s, Mandela traveled incognito across South Africa, organizing armed rebellion against the apartheid regime. Driving a gleaming Austin Westminster, Mandela was disguised as the chauffeur for an elegant, impeccably dressed white man. That man was Cecil Williams – a leading Johannesburg theater director, a committed freedom fighter and a gay man.
CLASSIC CINEMA SECTION
The Man Who Drove with Mandela
Classics O’Clock II, Saturday March 2, 17:00
ENGLISH TITLE:
The Man Who Drove with Mandela
ORIGINAL TITLE:
The Man Who Drove with Mandela
DIRECTOR:
Greta Schiller
COUNTRY:
South Africa, UK, Netherlands, Belgium, USA
GENRE:
Documentary
YEAR:
1998
LENGTH:
80’
CAST:
Corin Redgrave
A QUOTE FOR THE FILM:
“He put his own career and personal life at risk for a greater cause.”
SELECTIVE LIST OF FESTIVALS AND AWARDS:
Teddy Bear Award for Best documentary at Berlin International Film Festival, 1999
DIRECTOR’S BIO:
Greta Schiller (1954, USA) made her breakthrough as a filmmaker with the documentary Before Stonewall, which screened in the 1985 Panorama and won two Emmy Awards. In the same year she founded Jezebel Productions with Andrea Weiss. Strongly influenced by the women’s and gay rights movements, she is the director of highly acclaimed documentaries.
