The Last Mile
Following Mandela on his '92 tour of Africa as a free man
In 1962 Nelson Mandela toured Africa as a wanted man, drumming up support for the ANC's armed struggle. In 1992 he toured again, this time as a free man welcomed by heads of state. This film captured that landmark journey.
"On both occasions I went as a freedom fighter", Mandela recalls. Yet this trip showed a more circumspect Mandela, one who insists, "We have confidence in the leadership of each different country". In the Ivory Coast Mandela even attempted to build bridges with the despot Houphet-Boigny, who showed him scant support whilst he was imprisoned. Yet the trip was to prove a turning point, invigorating Mandela and injecting a greater confidence into the ANC. "A firm impression we have come back with is the support of the whole continent of Africa". Thirty years earlier he had returned to South Africa as a wanted man. This time he returned to constitutional negotiations with those who once branded him a terrorist. "We are travelling the last mile", he smiles.
For more information on this film see - www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/09/mandela-film-intimate-portrait-last-mile
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