Fresh from winning the Peace Film Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival, TUTU will have its African premiere at Encounters South African International Documentary Festival this June.
The feature documentary is an intimate portrait of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the rebel cleric and Nobel Peace Prize winner who helped end Apartheid in South Africa.
Even if you think you know the story, the footage lands with startling power. Tutu intervenes to stop a mob from necklacing a man accused of being an informant. He loses his temper over Ronald Reagan opposing sanctions, telling the media “the West… can go to hell.” He weeps while chairing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He lovingly renews his wedding vows.
Throughout, we hear his hyena cackle, even as he speaks truth to power with all the moral weight of being not just an activist but a priest too.
“I wanted Tutu’s voice to be the heartbeat of the story, to let his humanity, humour and moral conviction lead us through his world,” says director Sam Pollard (MLK/FBI), an Emmy and Peabody Award winner who received the International Documentary Association’s Career Achievement Award in 2020.
Central to the film is the remarkable archive filmed over two decades by South African journalist Roger Friedman and photographer Benny Gool, who are both interviewed in the film and credited as consulting producers.
The pairing was something Tutu took particular delight in. “It was part of our party trick,” says Friedman. “He enjoyed telling people that we were a Jew and a Muslim, and that he loved us.” The documentary doesn’t end with Apartheid but shows how Tutu’s activism expanded globally, continuing even after his retirement.
Often described as “South Africa’s conscience,” Tutu closes the film on a characteristically optimistic note: “I hope that the world would realise that there is no situation of which we can say, ‘This is absolutely devoid of hope.’ God bless you.”
The Hollywood Reporter praised the documentary as “a deeply personal portrait of the man, so much so that by the film’s conclusion you will feel as if you’ve truly come to know him.”
TUTU is produced by HiddenLight and the Universal Pictures Content Group, with Richard Branson and Trevor Noah among the executive producers. Cinetic Media are handling worldwide sales.
During Encounters, Pollard will attend the screenings, as well as host editing masterclasses in Cape Town and Johannesburg with the editor, Paul Trewartha. Before moving into directing, Pollard cut a number of films for Spike Lee, including Jungle Fever and the Oscar-nominated documentary 4 Little Girls.
Cape Town screenings:
- Sunday, 7 June 2026 at 12:30 at the Labia Theatre
- Sunday, 7 June 2026 at 16:30 at the V&A Waterfront Ster-Kinekor
Johannesburg screenings:
- Tuesday, 9 June 2026 at 17:00 at Ster-Kinekor Sandton
- Wednesday,10 June 2026 at 18:30 at Ster-Kinekor Southgate
Masterclasses & legacy panels, sponsored by Clinix:
- Monday, 8 June 2026 in Cape Town
- Wednesday, 10 June 2026 in Johannesburg
Encounters is Africa’s longest-running film festival dedicated to documentaries. Its 28th edition will run from 4-14 June 2026. Encounters takes place at the Labia Theatre and V&A Waterfront Ster-Kinekor in Cape Town; The Bioscope and Rosebank Nouveau, Ster-Kinekor Sandton, Ster-Kinekor Southgate in Johannesburg; and Brooklyn Commercial in Pretoria.
Ticket sales and more details to follow soon on encounters.co.za.
Follow @encountersdoc on social media for updates on this year’s programme.
Encounters is supported by Bertha Foundation, City of Cape Town, Film Cape Town, National Film and Video Foundation of South Africa, Consulate General of Portugal in Johannesburg, French Institute of South Africa, SWISS Films, Consulate General of Switzerland in Cape Town, Central Film School, Ster-Kinekor, Clinix, The Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, Rough Cut Lab Africa, South African Guild of Editors, Nelson Mandela Foundation, Durban FilmMart Institute, filmmart.africa, Modern Times Review, Documentary Filmmakers Association of South Africa, Primedia, Ster-Kinekor, Labia Theatre, Bioscope Independent Cinema, UWC, Centre for Humanities Research, UCT, UCT Center for Film and Media Services, Goethe Institut, Bertha Movie House, Isivivana Centre and Bertha House Mowbray, District Six Museum/Homecoming Centre
