Robben Island - Our University

The film was made under a State of Emergency in the film-director’s own home. Three former prisoners, Neville Alexander, Fikile Bam & Kwedi Mkalipi describe how they, respectively, spent 10 & 20 years in the same prison section as Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and many other remarkable leaders incarcerated there at the time. The film captures the first moment the three of them meet again since they were released. They explain how their imprisonment inadvertently helped build solidarity & understanding between diverse political opposition groupings, how they survived emotional deprivation and lost self-pity, the manner in which they built comradeship, resilience and knowledge of one another which helped cement the democratic foundations for the new South Africa. This film was made before Nelson Mandela’s release from Robben Island prison and the subsequent road to South Africa’s democracy.