Goodbye Bafana [2007]

GOODBYE BAFANA tells the eye-opening true story of one man's gradual transition from white supremacist to defender of black rights. Set in South Africa in 1968, in the midst of the National Party's brutal Apartheid regime, the film questions the very nature of what it means to be free. James Gregory (Joseph Fiennes, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE) is a typical white Afrikaner whose bigoted upbringing has led him to regard all blacks with disdain. As a native Xhosa speaker, he is enlisted by the governing party to keep a watchful eye on political activist Nelson Mandela (Dennis Haysbert, BREACH) who's serving a life sentence on Robben Island for daring to rebel against the system. In a country where black people are stripped of even their most basic human rights--the right to vote, the right to own land, the right to own a business, the right to proper housing and education--the voice of opposition is about as welcome as the notion of democracy itself. For Mandela and other political figures, their involvement with the African National Congress (ANC) was enough to cost them their freedom. During his incarceration, Mandela strikes up an unlikely but profound friendship with his guard, and manages to convince him of the injustices perpetrated daily against South Africa's black population. As Gregory slowly starts to wake up to the inhumanity all around him, he vows to join in the struggle for a free South Africa. Based on the memoirs of Nelson Mandela's prison guard, GOODBYE BAFANA is a thought-provoking and moving account of a very dark period in human history.






Based on an inspirational true story, Goodbye Bafana tracks the unlikely but profound relationship between James Gregory (Joseph Fiennes), a racist South African jailer, and his prisoner, Nelson Mandela (Dennis Haysbert). Gregory is ordered to spy on Mandela because he understands Mandela`s native language. No one expected that a friendship would grow between these two very different men. Through Mandela`s influence, Gregory`s world will change forever. Powerful and uplifting, Goodbye Bafana delivers a moving message of hope, courage and humanity.