{"id":7446,"date":"2018-09-03T17:25:46","date_gmt":"2018-09-03T15:25:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/?p=7446"},"modified":"2018-09-03T17:25:46","modified_gmt":"2018-09-03T15:25:46","slug":"long-awaited-film-about-desmond-tutu-finally-coming-to-the-big-screen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/blog\/2018\/09\/03\/long-awaited-film-about-desmond-tutu-finally-coming-to-the-big-screen\/","title":{"rendered":"Long-awaited Film About Desmond Tutu Finally Coming To The Big Screen"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>While it has been two decades since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded, bringing to a close South Africa\u2019s cathartic period of reckoning with its violent history of racial segregation, director Roland Joff\u00e9\u2019s new film returns to that time to grapple with the terrible truths of apartheid and its legacy.<\/p>\n<p>Based on Michael Ashton\u2019s play,\u00a0The Archbishop and the Antichrist (the playwright collaborated on the screenplay with Joff\u00e9), THE FORGIVEN is a fictionalised account of Archbishop Desmond Tutu\u2019s efforts as the head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to confront the atrocities of apartheid in an attempt to heal and unite South Africa.\u00a0 The film opens at South African cinemas nationwide on October 5th.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Forgiven Official Trailer (2018) - Forest Whitaker, Eric Bana\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_lpuc162YpI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Explaining the reasoning behind the film, Joff\u00e9 says: \u201cThis is a subject that\u2019s both social and political but also rather personal, because let\u2019s be honest, we\u2019ve all done things in our lives that we need forgiveness for, that we haven\u2019t come to terms with. We\u2019re all prisoners of our history, whether it\u2019s social, cultural or family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Two-time academy nominee Joff\u00e9 has gained a reputation for hard-hitting political stories and THE FORGIVEN, like his 1984 cinematic breakthrough\u00a0The Killing Fields, is cerebral and unflinchingly violent in its depiction of South Africa\u2019s recent political history.<\/p>\n<p>The drama follows Archbishop Desmond Tutu, masterfully portrayed by Forest Whitaker, and his struggle \u2013 morally and intellectually \u2013 with brutal murderer and member of a former apartheid-era hit squad, Piet Blomfeld (Eric Bana), over redemption and forgiveness.<\/p>\n<p>When Tutu receives a highly articulate letter pleading for clemency, written by the convicted murderer, he becomes intrigued enough to visit the prisoner in his cell; here the two men have a series of intense conversations about guilt and forgiveness.<\/p>\n<p>Academy Award winner Whitaker delivers a finely nuanced performance, conveying Tutu&#8217;s formidable inner strength, dignity and compassion. Having previously portrayed a South African in the film Zulu (2013), he already had an informed understanding of South Africa\u2019s history, which he utilises to add depth and power to his performance as the Archbishop.<\/p>\n<p>Despite being one of Hollywood&#8217;s most acclaimed actors, Whitaker confessed that playing Tutu proved to be one of the biggest challenges of his career. \u201cI knew his laugh, his sense of humour, how he felt, his passion, and his faith. But he has a graceful way in which he looks at the world. Trying to pull those things together, to capture the spirit of the man, was challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bana, too, delivers a powerhouse performance, using his physicality and charisma to make a loathsome character suitably scary, but also very human.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is probably the most intimidating character I\u2019ve ever played,\u201d admits the Australian actor. \u201cThe key to the character, for me, was just throwing myself into South African history. There was so much that I needed to know, before I could stand any chance of understanding where\u00a0Blomfeld\u2019s\u00a0warped sense of entitlement came from. It was just one of those roles where you have to really jump into the deep\u00a0end, and\u00a0trying to learn and understand a lot of the history was the first step.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Produced by Craig Baumgarten and South African producing partner, Zaheer Goodman-Bhyat from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lightanddarkfilms.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Light and Dark Films<\/a>, the film was shot completely in and around Cape Town, including at one of the world\u2019s most dangerous prison facilities, Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison. It also boasts strong performances by South African actors Jeff Gum, Morn\u00e9 Visser and Thandi Makhubele.<\/p>\n<p>According to the producers, the story is poignant and timely. \u201cIt reminds us of Archbishop Tutu\u2019s gift of forgiveness and the healing it brings, and we are honoured to tell this story.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Archbishop himself has given the project his blessing, saying: \u201cThis timely, compelling and intelligent film, movingly, and above all humanely, captures what it felt like to be working with those selfless members of the TRC who strove, often against the odds, to help bring both truth and reconciliation to the ordinary people of South Africa. The film is a tribute to the remarkable and healing power of forgiveness and the outstanding compassion and courage of those who offered love and forgiveness as an antidote to hate and inhumanity. This is not only a film about a certain time and place, it is a pean of hope to humanity at large.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With potent acting, relevant social commentary, adept writing and direction,\u00a0THE FORGIVEN is a powerful film, and the ultimate testament to the power of forgiveness and finding common ground in our humanity.<\/p>\n<p>THE FORGIVEN was produced by international award-winning feature film and television production company Light and Dark Films. The film will be released in cinemas, nationwide, on 5 October 2018, and is distributed by Filmfinity (Pty) Ltd.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7447\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/The-Forgiven-Poster.jpg?resize=400%2C584\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"584\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/The-Forgiven-Poster.jpg?w=400&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/The-Forgiven-Poster.jpg?resize=205%2C300&amp;ssl=1 205w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While it has been two decades since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded, bringing to a close South Africa\u2019s cathartic period of reckoning with its violent history of racial segregation, director Roland Joff\u00e9\u2019s new film returns to that time to grapple with the terrible truths of apartheid and its legacy. Based on Michael Ashton\u2019s play,\u00a0The&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/blog\/2018\/09\/03\/long-awaited-film-about-desmond-tutu-finally-coming-to-the-big-screen\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Long-awaited Film About Desmond Tutu Finally Coming To The Big Screen<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7446\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}