Goodbye Bafana

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

2007 film by Bille August

title: "Goodbye Bafana" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["2007-films", "2000s-biographical-films", "belgian-biographical-films", "british-biographical-films", "french-biographical-films", "german-biographical-films", "italian-biographical-films", "luxembourgian-drama-films", "south-african-biographical-films", "2000s-english-language-films", "english-language-belgian-films", "english-language-french-films", "english-language-german-films", "english-language-italian-films", "english-language-luxembourgian-films", "english-language-south-african-films", "xhosa-language-films", "films-scored-by-dario-marianelli", "films-about-nelson-mandela", "cultural-depictions-of-nelson-mandela", "cultural-depictions-of-winnie-mandela", "films-about-nobel-laureates", "films-based-on-biographies", "films-directed-by-bille-august", "films-set-in-the-1960s", "films-set-in-the-1970s", "films-set-in-the-1980s", "prison-films", "films-set-in-south-africa", "films-set-on-islands", "films-shot-in-the-eastern-cape", "films-shot-in-gauteng", "films-shot-in-the-western-cape", "2007-british-films", "2007-french-films", "2007-german-films", "2007-multilingual-films", "belgian-multilingual-films", "british-multilingual-films", "french-multilingual-films", "german-multilingual-films", "italian-multilingual-films", "luxembourgian-multilingual-films", "south-african-multilingual-films", "2007-belgian-films", "english-language-biographical-films", "2007-south-african-films", "english-language-drama-films"] description: "2007 film by Bille August" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodbye_Bafana" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 2007 film by Bille August ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox film"]

FieldValue
nameGoodbye Bafana
imageGoodbye bafana.jpg
captionCinema poster
writerGreg Latter, Bille August
starringDennis Haysbert
Joseph Fiennes
Diane Kruger
producer{{Plainlist
directorBille August
cinematographyRobert Fraisse
editingHervé Schneid
musicDario Marianelli
distributor{{Plainlist
*Paramount Pictures (United Kingdom{{cite weburl
*Warner Bros. Pictures and X-Verleih (Germany){{cite weburl
*Cinéart (Belgium){{cite weburl
*Istituto Luce (Italy){{cite weburl
*Ster-Kinekor (South Africa)[https://media.loot.co.za/static/gallery/f/n/b/fnbn-603-ga70/fnbn-603-ga70.2.back.XSWS69NFH7.jpg?w400&h=500&t=embed Image. Goodbye Bafana] media.loot.co.za
released
runtime140 minutes
country{{Plainlist
languageEnglish
Xhosa
budget$30 million
::

|name = Goodbye Bafana |image = Goodbye bafana.jpg |caption = Cinema poster |writer= Greg Latter, Bille August |starring = Dennis Haysbert Joseph Fiennes Diane Kruger |producer = {{Plainlist|

Bafana means 'boys'. Gregory lived on a farm and had a black friend when he was a child, which explains his ability to speak Xhosa.

Plot

The young revolutionary and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela is arrested, and it is the task of censor and prison guard James Gregory to watch him. He has long since moved to South Africa with the family for his work in the prison of Robben Island, and slowly he clashes with the politics and racist culture of his countrymen.

Cast

Factual basis

The autobiography film was based on, Goodbye Bafana: Nelson Mandela, My Prisoner, My Friend, was derided by Mandela's longtime friend, 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.

Writing in The Guardian, critic and historian Alex von Tunzelmann stated that the film was a "dubious tale" of Nelson Mandela's imprisonment based on his prison guard's memoirs, and that it was a story that contradicted all other known accounts of his time in prison. She went on to say that there was no excuse for the "historical negligence in this movie", while stating that its implicit dismissal of the contradictory accounts of Nelson Mandela and others could be seen as insulting.

In his own autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela mentions James Gregory on two occasions. The first is during Mandela's recollection of his incarceration in Pollsmoor Prison: The second time Mandela mentions Gregory in his autobiography is when he recalls the day of his release from prison in 1990:

On the Goodbye Bafana DVD, a segment about the creation of the film, The Making of Goodbye Bafana, contains an interview with Nelson Mandela where he speaks of James Gregory:

References

References

  1. "Watch Goodbye Bafana | Prime Video".
  2. "Goodbye Bafana".
  3. "Goodbye Bafana".
  4. "Jean-Luc van Damme, producteur de Goodbye Bafana".
  5. "Il colore della libertà - Goodbye Bafana".
  6. [https://media.loot.co.za/static/gallery/f/n/b/fnbn-603-ga70/fnbn-603-ga70.2.back.XSWS69NFH7.jpg?w=400&h=500&t=embed Image. Goodbye Bafana] media.loot.co.za
  7. ''[[Mandela: The Authorised Biography]]'', p.217.
  8. (10 May 2012). "Reel history: Goodbye Bafana". The Guardian.
  9. Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Little, Brown & Company, 1994, pages 449 and 490
  10. ''The Making of Goodbye Bafana'', on the DVD.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

2007-films2000s-biographical-filmsbelgian-biographical-filmsbritish-biographical-filmsfrench-biographical-filmsgerman-biographical-filmsitalian-biographical-filmsluxembourgian-drama-filmssouth-african-biographical-films2000s-english-language-filmsenglish-language-belgian-filmsenglish-language-french-filmsenglish-language-german-filmsenglish-language-italian-filmsenglish-language-luxembourgian-filmsenglish-language-south-african-filmsxhosa-language-filmsfilms-scored-by-dario-marianellifilms-about-nelson-mandelacultural-depictions-of-nelson-mandelacultural-depictions-of-winnie-mandelafilms-about-nobel-laureatesfilms-based-on-biographiesfilms-directed-by-bille-augustfilms-set-in-the-1960sfilms-set-in-the-1970sfilms-set-in-the-1980sprison-filmsfilms-set-in-south-africafilms-set-on-islandsfilms-shot-in-the-eastern-capefilms-shot-in-gautengfilms-shot-in-the-western-cape2007-british-films2007-french-films2007-german-films2007-multilingual-filmsbelgian-multilingual-filmsbritish-multilingual-filmsfrench-multilingual-filmsgerman-multilingual-filmsitalian-multilingual-filmsluxembourgian-multilingual-filmssouth-african-multilingual-films2007-belgian-filmsenglish-language-biographical-films2007-south-african-filmsenglish-language-drama-films