Goodbye Bafana

Goodbye Bafana
Cinema poster
Directed by	Bille August
Written by	James Gregory (book) Greg Latter (screenplay)
Starring	Dennis Haysbert Joseph Fiennes Diane Kruger
Music by	Dario Marianelli
Cinematography	Robert Fraisse
Release date(s)	11 February 2007 (2007-02-11) (Berlin Film Festival)
Running time	140 minutes
Country	Germany France Belgium Italy South Africa
Language	English Xhosa
Budget	$30,000,000

Goodbye Bafana (released on DVD in the United States as The Color of Freedom) is a 2007 drama film, directed by Bille August, about the relationship between Nelson Mandela (Dennis Haysbert) and James Gregory (Joseph Fiennes), his censor officer and prison guard, based on Gregory's book Goodbye Bafana: Nelson Mandela, My Prisoner, My Friend. The movie also explores the relationship of James Gregory and his wife as their life changes while Mandela is under Gregory's watch.

Bafana means 'boys'. Gregory lived on the farm and he had a black friend when he was a kid, and that is the reason Gregory is able to speak Xhosa.

Cast

• Joseph Fiennes as James Gregory
• Dennis Haysbert as Nelson Mandela
• Diane Kruger as Gloria Gregory
• Patrick Lyster as Maj. Pieter Jordaan
• Norman Anstey as Jimmy Kruger
• Shiloh Henderson as Brent Gregory
• Tyrone Keogh as Brent Gregory
• Megan Smith as Natasha Gregory
• Jessica Manuel as Natasha Gregory
• Faith Ndukwana as Winnie Mandela
• Terry Pheto as Zindzi Mandela
• Leslie Mongezi as Walter Sisulu
• Zingizile Mtuzula as Raymond Mhlaba (as Zingi Mtuzula)
• Mehboob Bawa as Ahmed Kathrada
• Shakes Myeko as Andrew Mlangeni
• Sizwe Msutu as Cyril Ramaphosa

Factual basis

The autobiography the film was based on, Goodbye Bafana: Nelson Mandela, My Prisoner, My Friend, was derided by Mandela's longtime friend, the late Anthony Sampson. In Sampson's book Mandela: the Authorised Biography he accused James Gregory, who died of cancer in 2003, of lying and violating Mandela's privacy in his work Goodbye Bafana. Sampson said that Gregory had rarely spoken to Mandela, but censored the letters sent to the prisoner and used this information to fabricate a close relationship with him. Sampson also claimed that other warders suspected Gregory of spying for the government, and that Mandela considered suing Gregory.

In his own autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela mentions James Gregory in two occasions. The first was during his imprisonment in Pollsmoor:

"Often, Winnie's visits were overseen by Warrant Officer James Gregory, who had been a censor on Robben Island. I had not known him terribly well there, but he knew us, because he had been responsible for reviewing our incoming and outgoing mail. At Pollsmoor I got to know Gregory better and found him a welcome contrast to the typical warder. He was polished and soft-spoken, and treated Winnie with courtesy and deference".

The second occasion that Mandela mentions Gregory in his autobiography is on the day of his release in 1990 from prison:

"Warrant Officer James Gregory was also there at the house, and I embraced him warmly. In the years that he had looked after me from Pollsmoor through Victor Verster, we had never discussed politics, but our bond was an unspoken one and I would miss his soothing presence".

The The Making of Goodbye Bafana, on the Goodbye Bafana DVD, contains an interview with Nelson Mandela where he speaks of James Gregory:

"He was one of the most refined warders. Well-informed and courteous with everybody. Soft spoken. Very good observations. I developed a lot of respect for him".

External links

• Goodbye Bafana at the Internet Movie Database
• BBC news, 12 February 2007: Mandela movie launches in Berlin Retrieved 2012-07-10