Who better to do justice to a Tambo film than . . . a judge?
● Former Constitutional Court judge Albie Sachs is applying his legal mind to the arts.
The retired jurist has turned his attention to filmmaking, making his debut as the executive producer of a documentary about Oliver Tambo.
The documentary Oliver Tambo: Have You Heard from Johannesburg will have its international premiere today when it is screened on BET Africa (DStv channel 129).
The film commemorates 100 years since the birth of Tambo in October 1917. The ANC declared 2017 “The Year of OR Tambo”.
Sachs got involved with the documentary in his capacity as a board member of the Oliver & Adelaide Tambo Foundation. He secured funding from international donors, helped to find archive footage and set up some of the interviews in the film.
He also acted as an adviser, suggesting which themes should be developed.
But it was only when director Connie Field showed him a rough draft that he agreed to being named executive producer.
“When I saw the rough cut, I thought it was dynamic and conveyed a flavour of Oliver Tambo,” Sachs said.
The film’s TV premiere coincides with the ANC elective conference at Nasrec, where President Jacob Zuma is due to be replaced as ANC leader amid some of the most fractious infighting the party has yet seen.
“If ever there was a person whose values were needed in South Africa, it’s Oliver Tambo, now more than ever,” Sachs said.
The film had its first public screening last week at the Women’s Jail atrium at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg, which Sachs said was an “emotional” experience.
“In the movie you get to see Oliver Tambo close up, his smile, his humour . . . he doesn’t fit the stereotype of a liberation figure. He was quiet, thoughtful, but quick and open; he was the last one to speak, which is an inversion of the robust charismatic leaders we see today.”
The documentary contains archive footage of Tambo interwoven with interviews featuring, among others, the late SACP leader Chris Hani, former president Thabo Mbeki, former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda and members of the Tambo family.
The movie will also be available to stream for free on the AfriDocs website until Wednesday.
Sachs said he was hoping to make the film available on DVD in schools and universities next year.
He has already written a script for his own new film project, which is with a director. Sachs is reluctant to discuss details, other than to say it will be a feature film and “my attempt to tell a story”.
He said South Africans could expect to see the finished work late next year or early in 2019.
In the movie you get to see Oliver Tambo close up, his smile, his humour . . . he doesn’t fit the stereotype of a liberation figure Albie Sachs