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Robben Island - Our University

primary_youtube_id: vCG8PeSdsJ8
1988
00:54:20
South Africa
In a unique conversation, three ex-political-prisoners give the first insight ever released about Robben Island, the infamous prison for political opponents of the apartheid government.  The film was made under a State of Emergency in the film-director’s own home.
Physical formats available:
16mm
Digital formats available:
Quicktime (Pro Res)
Audio & visual:
Sound, Color

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.

Director: Lindy Wilson
Collection
Lindy Wilson Productions
(9)
Lindy Wilson is a South African documentary film-maker whose films have been broadcast locally and internationally. Through her films she has chartered graphic aspects of South Africa’s history under apartheid and its transition to democracy and has recorded its capacity to face the gross human rights atrocities of the past through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Her films are used as archival witness in universities and museums.