Original subtitles

Those people were shot in the back as they ran. It was murder.

Non -violence had always been our path.

We need a voice that can speak from the safety of another country. I want those

troublemakers stopped.

I need to see your warrant. We don't need one.

The struggle, your other family, if everyone gets a piece of you, what is

The judges find all the accused not guilty.

They could re -arrest you at any moment. We need to move.

We have to move him!

Nobody's going to look for the Black Pimpernel in this white suburb.

You'll be safe here, Nelson.

Thank you, Wolfie.

Well, you must be exhausted.

I'll sit up here on the couch. You take my bed.

I'm not going to take your bed.

You're double my height.

Exactly. And you still wish to fight me about it?

We cannot keep going like this.

We cannot keep asking people to strike only to end up defenseless in front of a

firing squad.

Something has to change.

The man is charging around the country at will, organizing mass civil

disturbance.

I promise, Prime Minister, we'll be doing everything we can.

We have an army and we still can't find them? We are infiltrating the ANC, sir.

In fact, we're learning that their old rivalry with the PAC is reignited. With

any luck, their infighting should actually work in our favor. Let me make

absolutely clear.

Mandela is attempting to organize general strikes.

And if he succeeds, it will cause our economy and confidence in our government

great deal of disturbance.

And whatever else he's doing, he makes us look foolish.

Worse! Make us look incompetent.

So, I guess we're in business.

No, this Mandela's a slippery bastard.

He's a clever cat, huh?

Never underestimate American intelligence.

I will find your man.

I have to get out.

I have to go for a run.

You can't. You're in a white area. I need to run. It's how I clear my head.

What are you trying to clear your head of?

My wife.

What? I cannot be as dedicated to the movement as I need to be without putting

on blinders to every other aspect of life. But I cannot put on blinders with

her, not with my wife.

I need to figure out our next step.

Rest assured, we won't follow.

Thank you, Settle.

Strike has failed. Then we try again. We persist.

Giving up is exactly what they want us to do. No one is talking about giving

But our entire strategy needs to be reformed. But we've developed this

very carefully. We can't keep asking people who are already poor to stay away

from work while they grow poorer and they see no progress.

We can't keep setting them up to be arrested or killed for their efforts.

action we undertake will be met with overwhelming force. What exactly are you

suggesting?

I need to speak with the press.

There are many people who feel that it is useless and futile

to continue to talk peace and non -violence against a government.

whose only reply is savage attacks against unarmed, defenseless people.

What the Africans want is simple.

One man, one vote.

We want political independence.

If Prime Minister Vervoort's government does not give you the kind of

concessions that you want, is there any likelihood that the ANC will turn to

violence? I think the time has come for us to consider whether or not the

methods we have applied so far...

We already have one.

Only it is we who have to have it.

I appreciate your concern.

But that's not what this conversation is about.

So, you don't agree with me?

Whatever I may or may not think about a violent campaign, you decided,

unilaterally, to abandon the ANC's principle all on your own. I decided no

thing. Nelson, you said... What I said was a statement of fact. There are

who feel... Do not argue semantics with me.

You were not on a court of law. You were talking to a journalist.

to the world, to the people I am trying to get support from.

And what they saw was one of the leading voices of the ANC abandoning without

consultation the principle of non -violence, which the ANC has been

for 40 years.

And now what I want to know is this.

What are we supposed to do to stop the ANC from splintering from the crack you

have initiated?

Chief Lutuli has summoned us.

I will convince them that this is the only way.

I need your support, Oliver.

My commitment to nonviolence from the ANC is unshakable. The

nonviolence that we have advocated for years demands moral courage.

You look to America at this Martin Luther King and his freedom riders. They

pushing for change right now as we speak with nonviolence. Yes, but they are

doing it with the support of the American government because President

threatened to send in federal troops. That is not our situation.

Fair vote is leading the violence here. No,

no, no. I would plead with you all not to embark on this cause.

Violence begets violence.

You say that violence begets violence, but in South Africa, so does non

-violence. If we take up arms, we lose all international support.

What support?

What has the so -called international community ever done for us? Give me one

example.

Stop,

stop, stop.

Let us try to remember that we are on the same side.

What Nelson and I do agree upon.

is above all. To win this war, we have to stay together.

I will believe in non -violence to the end.

But we must take a collective vote. And when we decide, we have to find our way

back to unity.

Win or lose.

Before we vote, I would like the chance to clarify my position.

We all have the same goal, a fully democratic, multilateral South Africa.

to oppose the armed might of the South African government with passive

resistance requires a kind of sacrifice.

It requires a level of courage that I no longer have.

The fact is, if the ANC believes in its vision, it must be prepared to fight for

it.

So, I propose the creation.

of an entire new wing of the ANC, which would operate independently, yet

remain under the authority of the ANC.

The purpose of this section would be to meet the government's armed aggression

with a campaign of sabotage, carefully avoiding injury or loss of life,

selecting for its target government properties, symbols of oppression, not

people. I assume you are talking about a bombing campaign.

I don't want this any more than any of you do.

If you can tell me there is another way for us to fight realistically against

guns and armies, I will listen to it.

How long before it explodes?

10, 15 minutes.

The fuse is essentially acid eating through cardboard.

Looks like we can make a bomb.

With a very short fuse, we need to do something about that.

Yeah.

So how many would you need? 10, 20?

60, ready, in position across the country, December 16th. All on the same

That river?

Dingante.

This year I would like to commemorate the Africana victory over the Zulus a

little differently.

The locations are very careful. We hit early in the morning when no one is

around. This is our first strike. No mistake.

More casualty.

You hear the good news, boys?

Chief Latuli has just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

That is wonderful. It's wonderfully ironic when you consider we're just

blow up half the country.

We're moving you.

Where? The South African Communist Party's got a new underground

A bomb.

Will I get shot if I don't finish my chores? You'll get shot if you hang

here much longer. Let's get... All right.

We had made the right choice, but now we carried a heavy burden.

Violence has an extraordinary power. It can affect great change, but if you are

not careful, people both guilty and innocent will die.

Submit or fight. These are the only choices we have left in South Africa.

We have sought to achieve liberation without bloodshed.

and hoped to bring the government and its supporters to their senses before it

was too late.

For the sake of all of the people of this country, black, brown, white.

Three more explosions, sir, in Durban Amplitoria. How many is that now?

Fifty -seven.

Sir.

The ANC announces the birth of Mkonto Wiseswe, the spirit of the nation.

It comes a time in the life of any nation when there remain only two

submit or to fight.

We ask the government to enter into negotiations with us.

To prevent South Africa descending into a disastrous civil war.

Then war it is.

I

asked

you here to say goodbye.

What do you mean? I have to go abroad for a while.

We need arms, money, training.

If we can build bombs from ballpoint pens, imagine what we can do with

and the proper training, expertise.

How long are you going for? I don't know.

I'm scared, Nelson.

What if they catch you?

What if something happens?

I am very good at looking after myself.

I will be okay.

And when will this hiding end? When will it stop?

Okay,

let me come with you. I could bring the children.

This is no life for children.

I am always on the move.

And this is no life for me as well.

You're not the only one in this family who believes in the struggle.

I want to fight too.

You are doing that.

By holding us all together.

I need you to do that, Zemi.

Please, be strong.

I have so much faith in you.

Do you even know where you're going?

I wouldn't tell you even if I knew.

I've always wanted to travel the continent.

One day we will, my love.

Ma Muin, Ma Muin, are you coming to the meeting tonight?

If I can tell people Winnie Mandela is going to be there, it would mean the

world to everybody. I will be there.

Wonderful, wonderful. Thank you, Ma. Thank you.

No time.

Oliver.

Look at you.

How do you like Mandela and Tambo's new offices?

Very nice.

Can we afford it? No.

How are Winnie and the kids? They are fine. They are fine.

How did it go in Tanzania?

I was advised to drop the armed struggle and cooperate with the PAC.

You were expecting this. The PAC got here before us.

They've been telling anyone who will listen that we are a tribal clique

with white communists and Indian pacifists. They have positioned

the only true guardians of black nationalism in South Africa.

How is the fundraising going?

It is coming.

As soon as we announced the armed struggle, the commitment to funding the

started evaporating.

When do I see the president?

He won't see you.

Will he give us the money?

I am still working on it.

All the money in the world will not help us if you do not teach us how to fight.

Why can't we just grab him, stuff him in the car and say we took him on the

right side of the border?

No.

This is not the place to do it.

We do this by the book.

We'll take him in South Africa.

Can I get your papers?

Enjoy your day.

That was quite nerve -wracking.

We handled ourselves rather well, don't you think, Nelson?

Very well.

Thank you, Cecil.

I have missed you all so much.

How are you feeling?

I am tired.

The last three weeks, the police have set the house every single night.

Just before the girls go to bed.

But I'm okay.

You have enough on you.

Tell me about your trip.

There is a lot of support here on the continent, but many African leaders

agree with me.

They cannot understand why we haven't risen in revolt against such a small

minority of whites.

I cannot help but have this feeling, this ominous feeling that

we are never going to have a normal life together.

Oh, Sami, my darling.

Everything that we are fighting for is so that we can have a normal life.

I'm invisible to him when they are here.

You should go over there and join them.

You are your father's firstborn son.

Take care to remember that.

I don't know why you stick up for him.

My mother is your cousin.

You should have stayed on his side in the divorce.

Your mother is a very good woman.

But Nelson has been married to Winnie for some time now.

You must respect that.

Yes, Uncle Walter.

I'm sorry for the disrespect.

When you are older, Timber, you might find that being on his side is far more

complicated than it might appear.

My friends, our policy of non -racialism is misunderstood in the rest of Africa.

We need to create the impression that we are Africa for the Africans, not

communists or anything else. Yes, I agree.

I recognize that this is a sensitive issue. It goes against everything that

believe in. I understand that.

That is why I am only suggesting that we create the impression we are Africa for

the Africans.

So, you are just talking about our image.

It's what the people believe that is important.

I see your point, Nathan.

But I'm not sure that Chief Lutuli will.

I intend to try and convince him.

In Natal? There are roadblocks from here to Devon.

The Drago cannot afford to lose you. Yes, but something this important, it

be done in person.

Diversities of color and race. Those are the very things that are going to bring

South Africa into a new democracy. Non -racialism is not about negating race.

Did anyone order dry cleaning?

They found us.

We're caught.

This can't be happening.

Stay in character.

Nelson Mandela!

You're under arrest!

It's confirmed.

Without a doubt?

None at all.

Can't have killed.

Court.

Thank you, Lord, for delivering unto us the sinners who seek to destroy our

mission.

We look to you, my Lord, in this time of our great need for support.

Gentlemen, I have to tell you

that the state has formally advised me that they will

be seeking the death penalty.

They will be presenting evidence that you deliberately and maliciously

a plan to overthrow the government by violent means.

by unleashing trained guerrilla warfare units as part of a military invasion by

hostile foreign powers.

I have

an

idea about the start of the trial.

We need to make a statement.

I will need you to bring me something.

It is very important.

Mrs.

Mandela, tell us what you think about today.

Mrs. Mandela, do you expect your husband to get a death penalty?

All right.

Quiet, please.

My Lord, the defense will begin with a statement from the accused, Nelson

Mandela.

My Lord, I will not deny that I planned

sabotage. But I did not plan it because I have any love of violence.

I planned it as the result of a calm and sober assessment of the political

situation that has arisen in this country after many years of oppression,

exploitation, and tyranny.

It is the struggle for the right to live.

The right to live a normal life, which is the right of every human being.

During my lifetime, I have dedicated myself to that struggle.

I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black

domination.

I have cherished the ideal of a free...

and democratic society in which all people can live together in harmony.

It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve.

But, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to

die.

I'm so grateful you have come.

My son, you will always be my blessing.

Thank you, Mama.

Tembi, I do not know how long I will be gone, but you need to be the man now.

I already have been.

We must go.

Tembi.

I love you.

I hope you know that.

Thank you,

Bram, for all that you have done for us.

I have decided that no matter the sentence, there will be no appeal.

By a significant coincidence, this, the first day of the

committee's discussion on the policy of apartheid, happens also to be the very

last day of a trial in South Africa, which has as its primary aim

the punishment by death of people who are among South Africa's most

opponents of the very policies which the General Assembly

and the Security Council have passed numerous resolutions calling upon the

African government to abandon Nelson Mandela, being known personally

to a number of heads of state,

Bovan Beki, a top -ranking African political leader, and an accomplished

economist who has borne the burden of his oppressed fellow men ever since

he left

Ahmed Khatrada, a South African of Indian extraction, who began his career

in politics as a passive leader in 1946 at the age of 17,

and has continued to be a leading participant in the struggle of Indians

other forms of racial discrimination, and joined the Africans in the

struggle.

I urge you to expect that the developments that I have referred to

for the immediate action by the United Nations.

For our part, I wish to observe that every single day

spent in jail by any of our people, every drop

of blood drawn from any of them,

Every life taken represents a unit of human wealth

lost once.

This loss we can no longer afford.

The function of this court, as is the function of the court in any country,

is to enforce the laws of the state within which it functions.

The crime that the accused have been convicted of, that is the main crime,

is in essence that of high treason.

Yeah? It's Joe.

Life imprisonment. All of them.

One moment.

All of them.

Life.

Get dressed.

You, curry muncher, get long pants.

I am formally requesting long trousers for all of us.

Boys, get short pants.

Do I look like a boy to you?

You're black, right?

Then I say you're a boy.

You are all category D, the highest security risk of all political

Every six months, you will be allowed one visitor.

You may receive one letter and you may write one letter of no more than 500

words.

You may not talk to each other. You may not speak to us unless spoken to.

You have come to this island to be forgotten and then to die.