Goodbye Bafana | Germany/France/Belgium/UK/Italy/SouthAfrica | 2007 |117 mins

Synopsis : Bille August's inspirational docudrama Goodbye Bafana begins in 1968, with South Africa buried neck-deep in the horrors of apartheid and Nelson Mandela (Dennis Haysbert) - then an underground leader of the African National Congress - imprisoned on Robben Island for sedition. As the story opens, the native African population of the country - 25,000,000 in number - buckles beneath the crippling weight of the racist white minority, who control the Nationalist Party Government. The film follows the spiritual and psychological journey of James Gregory (Joseph Fiennes), a Caucasian Afrikaner who came of age on a farm in the Transkei and initially views all blacks as subhuman. Gregory also speaks Mandela's native language of Xhosa with perfect fluency, which makes him an ideal candidate to serve as warden of the Robben Island Prison and eavesdrop on Mandela and his inmates. What he fails to anticipate is the most unlikely and special of friendships (one of history's greatest) that burgeons between himself and Mandela - and helps him evolve from a narrow-minded bigot with limited self-awareness to a sensitive, humane critic of social injustice with a heightened awareness of mankind's ill treatment of one another and a genuine level of love for his fellow man. As the friendship between Gregory and Mandela grows and matures, it symbolizes Africa's transition from the oppressiveness of Apartheid to the freedom of multi-racial democracy.

Director : Billie August

Bio : Billie August, born on the 9th of November in Brede, Denmark. He is a Danish film and television director. Pelle Erobreren (Pelle the Conqueror), based on Martin Andersen Nex¿'s novel, won both the Golden Palms in Cannes and an Oscar. Here he created both a social historical epic and a beautiful psychological study of a boy and his father. His international breakthrough was followed by the film and television series Den gode vilje (The Best Intentions) with a script by Ingmar Bergman. The film was awarded the Golden Palms in Cannes.

Awards/Screenings : Peace Film Award - 2007 Berlin International Film Festival

Red Dust | South Africa | 2004 | 110 mins

Synopsis : A dedicated human rights lawyer and a political activist who suffered at the hands of South African police officer with no regard for human life finds that the only thing more dangerous than standing up for your beliefs is the discovery of the truth in director Tom Hooper's adaptation of Gillian Slovo's captivating novel. Tortured at the hands of police officer Dirk Hendricks (Jamie Bartlett) for his efforts in seeking equality under the brutal apartheid regime, social activist Alex Mpondo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is shocked upon learning that Officer Hendricks is now seeking amnesty for his violent deeds. When human rights lawyer Sarah Barcant (Hilary Swank) returns to her South African home to represent Alex, she quickly discovers that the deeper she delves into the past, the more she has to fear in the present.

Director : Tom Hooper

Bio : Tom Hooper was a Best Director Emmy nominee for the two-part Prime Suspect 6 - The Last Witness, which starred ELIZABETH I's Helen Mirren. Most recently he directed the feature film Red Dust, with Hilary Swank. Hooper's other TV work includes Daniel Deronda, which won the Best Mini Series award at the 2003 Banff TV Festival, Love in a Cold Climate, Cold Feet II, two one-hour specials for Eastenders, which won back-to-back BAFTA Awards for Best Soap, Byker Grove, Quayside and Painted Faces. In addition to Hooper's extensive background in commercials and corporate film and video, he directed The Trial and A View from the Bridge for the stage. He is also the director of HBO Films, Longford, starring Samantha Morton and Jim Broadbent, which debuts later this year on HBO.

Awards/Screenings : Special Jury Award  - 2005 International Film Festival of India

U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha | South Africa | 2005 | 120 mins

Synopsis : U-CARMEN is a feature film based on Bizet's nineteenth century opera filmed on location in a modern South African township setting. The energy, compassion and heat of township life in all its elements will create a constantly visually interesting and dynamic background for the unfolding of the story. The Carmen story owes part of its huge popularity to the thrilling combination of a violent gangster tale with a passionate almost supernatural love story. As it unfolds it explores issues of fame and wealth, the position of a strong and independently minded woman in a very masculine society, and perhaps most importantly, the incomprehensible attraction between abuser and victim. Bizet's opera, based on Prosper Merimee's novel, premiered in Paris on March 3, 1875. Set in a poor area of Seville, the story of the magnetic woman who seduces, loves and ultimately destroys her lover and herself, is well known. Girl (Carmen) seduces boy (Don Jose), boy becomes completely obsessed, girl leaves boy for another (the Matador), boy in a jealous rage kills her. Carmen's mother-obsessed soldier lover who is displaced by the glamorous matador is one of the greatest tragic figures in all of musical theatre. Although these fascinating aspects of human relationships are explored in a penetrating and at times uncomfortable way this is no intellectual journey but a bawdy, passionate, vibrant tale with enormous warmth and heat and some of the greatest tunes ever written. The fantastic vitality and huge skill of the performers from Dimpho Di Kopane make an impact beyond that achieved by any filmed opera to date. The soundtrack, recorded by Dimpho Di Kopane with Imbumba, a young South African orchestra, combines Bizet's score with traditional South African music creating a powerful musical experience.

Director : Mark Dornford-May

Bio : Mark Dornford-May was born in 1955 in England. He worked in theatre in England for 25 years and founded Broomfield Opera. Mesmerized by the talent he found in South Africa he returned there in 2000 with Charles Hazlewood to create a new theatre company in Cape Town, Dimpho Di Kompane. His first film, U-Carmen eKhayelitsha, won the Golden Bear at Berlin in 2005.