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Those who lived through South Africa's shameful Apartheid years were painfully aware of the danger of keeping letters, diaries, home movies and mementos that in any way expressed disunity with the government in power. Given this climate Greta Schiller has done an astonishing job of researching the life of Cecil Williams. a pioneering anti-Apartheid campaigner, teacher and amateur dramatist.
Williams lead an exceptionally colourful life flouting social and political conventions as a gay, white, communist sympathiser living through times and under a regime that would at best have him beaten, at worst killed, for his stance and beliefs. Threading together 8mm films, journals, interviews with relatives and friends alongside reconstructions of key events, Schiller has woven a story rich in courage and conviction.
Cecil Williams' undoing—and subsequent dramatic escape and self-imposed exile from his homeland—came with Nelson Mandela's infamous arrest and imprisonment. Mandela had been touring South Africa spreading a message of resistance and armed struggle. Pursued by security forces, his cover was as Williams' chauffeur. Ironically, at the only point in their journey that they traded places the pair were nabbed by police.
So widespread was William's reputation as a man of unbounded compassion, who commanded enormous respect in many quarters, that a former pupil, now a police chief, assisted him to flee the country before racist vengeance caught up with him. Winner of Best Documentary award at the Berlin Film Festival.