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GOODBYE BAFANA wins Best Feature Film Award

GOODBYE BAFANA won 6 Golden Horns at the recent South African Film & Television Awards (SAFTA) including best Feature Film. The film is currently available in the local video stores and is doing solid business.

It has been bought by the South African Broadcasting Corporation and will soon be seen in millions of homes across the country. We film makers tend to place too much store on a theatrical release but the expense of releasing films are making this more difficult to justify, and the SABC release will ensure the widest possible audience in South Africa.

GOODBYE BAFANA was also nominated for the Golden Berlin Bear at the 57th Berlin Film Festival in February 207 where it won the prestigious Peace Film Award. 

The film, which portrays the relationship between racist white prison guard James Gregory and his charge Nelson Mandela over a 20 year period, was well received across Europe. The film was directed by Academy Award Winner and double Cannes Palme d’Or winner Bille August and is a co-production between Film Afrika (South Africa), Banana Films (Belgium), Arsam (France), X-Filme (Germany) and Fonma (Italy). The film was shot on location in South Africa and has music composed by Academy award nominee Dario Marianelli, with a title track by Johnny Clegg.

Written by Greg Latter, GOODBYE BAFANA tells the true story of James Gregory, a white South African racist prison warden whose life was profoundly altered by the prisoner he guarded for twenty years - Nelson Mandela. Joseph Fiennes and Diane Kruger interpret James and Gloria Gregory. The role of Mandela is portrayed by Dennis Haysbert. Dennis Haysbert, who portrays Mandela, says that playing the role was daunting and intimidating, and affected him profoundly "Every night I went home, I would have a glass of wine and just cry. The sacrifices he made were profoundly sad to me."

Visit the film's imdb listing and website www.goodbyebafana.com.