***** A MESSAGE FROM THE FILMMAKERS by Frances Reid & Deborah Hoffman
When we first heard about South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), we were inspired by the idea of an entire nation searching for a way to heal from its violent past by telling and hearing the truth. The TRC's approach was unprecedented in history and we wanted to bear witness.
We are often asked how we chose the four cases followed in Long Night's Journey into Day given the thousands of cases presented before the TRC. Each case was chosen for specific reasons; each highlights different aspects of the TRC and each brings up different moral questions.
First is the case of Amy Biehl. This is obviously the most atypical of the four. Knowing that our primary audience would be American, we wanted a case that had an American connection. The Amy Biehl case was, in fact, the only TRC case involving an American. But more important than that, we found both Amy Biehl's parents, Peter and Linda, and Mongezi Manquina's mother, Evelyn, to be inspiring people, and we were looking for stories that inspired and showed the heights of human behavior - especially since apartheid had been an example of the depths to which people can sink. Peter and Linda Biehl's desire to honor their daughter by supporting the TRC process and by reaching out to the family of her killer, and Evelyn Manquina's profoundly deep empathy for the Biehls, touched us greatly.
Our second case was that of the "Cradock 4." We specifically wanted a story of a white person who had worked (and killed) to uphold the apartheid government and who now had a change of heart and was remorseful for his acts. Our research led us to Eric Taylor, who even before appearing before the TRC had asked his minister to set up a meeting with the families of his victims so he could ask their forgiveness.
The case of Robert McBride, the ANC activist who left a car bomb outside a bar, was chosen because it illustrated what was for many the most controversial aspect of the TRC. The TRC was set up to examine human rights violations committed between the years of 1960 and 1994. Who had committed those violations did not matter. This meant that whether you had killed in the process of upholding the amoral apartheid government (as Eric Taylor did), or had killed while fighting against the apartheid system, in either case you had to apply for amnesty if you wanted to clear your name and be safe from prosecution. Robert McBride's act, which killed civilians, is particularly complex and morally ambiguous. We have heard of many an all night post-film argument about whether Robert McBride was a freedom fighter or a terrorist, and whether expecting activists to confess in the same way apartheid security police were expected to was a brilliant idea that further revealed truth and promoted healing, or was an insult to those who had fought to free their country from oppression.
The final case is the one known as the "Guguletu 7," the story of seven young men who were killed in what now appears to have been a set-up designed to make the apartheid police look as if they had killed a group of dangerous terrorists. This case was suggested to us by a TRC commissioner as a good example of how the TRC was uncovering truths long hidden. One of the underlying precepts of the TRC was that learning the truth was fair compensation for granting amnesty and thereby foregoing traditional justice. The mothers of the "Guguletu 7" had searched for the truth about their sons' deaths for more than 10 years. To have their suspicions finally verified was indeed gratifying.
The statistic that 80% of those who applied for amnesty were black is puzzling to many. There are several reasons for such a skewed number. The most obvious is the sad fact that whites have been less willing to embrace the TRC, and the leadership of the National Party (the white ruling party during apartheid) did not themselves apply for amnesty. Secondly, anyone in jail who received amnesty was immediately released, thereby providing a huge incentive to apply; there were very few whites in jail for apartheid era crimes. Finally, in the last years of apartheid, there was a tremendous amount of black-on-black violence, initiated by the government of the day. There were many applications for amnesty for such incidents.
Beyond these comments, we hope our film speaks for itself and challenges the viewer to reflect about his/her own life and country.
Frances Reid Deborah Hoffman
<http://www.newsreel.org/guides/longnight.htm#Reid> *****
Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, _A Human Being Died That Night: A South African Story of Forgiveness_: <http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/catalog/titledetail.cfm?titleNumber=688128>