The award-winning Goodbye Bafana, is a touching real-life drama about the relationship between African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela (Dennis Haysbert) and his white jailor James Gregory (Joseph Fiennes).

The film, set in the backdrop of South Africa’s apartheid movement is a powerful and sensitive account of a white man’s journey from hatred to compassion.

The majority blacks are ruled by a few whites under the brutal apartheid regime of the Nationalist Party Government (1948-1994). Blacks have little right to call their own. They cannot vote, have no land rights, no freedom of movement and have no access to own a business, housing or access to education.

The white government bans all black opposition, forcing leaders like Mandela into exile or imprisoning them for life on Robben Island. James (Fiennes), a white Afrikaner, who views blacks as sub-human, speaks Xhosa, learnt as a child. This lands him a job as the warder in charge of Mandela (Haysbert) and his comrades on Robben Island.

However, in Mandela, James starts to believe in a free and democratic South Africa where all people are treated equal. With options to either follow these new ideas or be true to his old ways, James starts the new journey in his life.

This real life drama has a very pleasant screenplay and dialogue, coupled with the soulful music of agony and struggle in the background. Director Bille August, a noted Danish film maker, also brings out the best in Joseph Fiennes and Dennis Haysbert.

A must watch for keeping up with a saga of the indomitable spirits. Goodbye Bafana will take you back to the world that was once – the world of intolerance that we never thought could be possible.