Film: Plot for Peace

I decided it was wiser to book for Plot for Peace this evening, considering that it was showing as a DocDays presentation at the Curzon Soho, and there was a panel discussion - and they always sell out. Anyway, I certainly knew my way - Tube to Leicester Square, take the Chinatown exit (2), turn left up Little Newport Street, then right, follow the road around and you'll soon see it across the road. As I entered Earl's Court station to start my Tube journey, I saw another of the signs they always have, and that always make me smile. It went something like, "You wonder who looks gorgeous and has a beautiful smile? Look back at the first word you read." Ahh!

Well, this would turn out to be the first of these things I've been to that didn't sell out! Never mind, better safe than sorry. Now. 1989 was a very exciting year, as I remember. I was in school and trying to study, but kept being drawn out to the television, because so many momentous things were happening on the news. The Berlin wall came down, the Communist Bloc imploded, and in South Africa, apartheid was on its last legs. I do seem to remember, at the time, that an anonymous Frenchman was given an award by the South African government. This is the story behind that.

Jean-Yves Ollivier is a French businessman, born in Algeria before independence. When he started to do business in South Africa, it was subject to international sanctions, because of apartheid. As he explains, this presented him with a unique opportunity. He always believed that sanctions were counter-productive, not conducive to dialogue. Anyway, in South Africa, he recognised a society like that which he had experienced in Algeria, pre-independence. He realised that South African society didn't realise how precarious its position was. He knew that apartheid was doomed.

He was also vexed at the complications of doing business between South Africa and its neighbours, because they were always pissing their neighbours off. South Africa controlled Namibia, and backed the UNITA rebels in Angola. With the Cold War raging, South Africa was on the American side, but surrounded by Soviet allies, which it continually sought to undermine. Basically, nobody liked them!

With the civil war raging in Angola, a South African officer, Captain Wynand du Toit, was captured and held by the Angolan authorities. As he tells it in the film, Ollivier realised that the return of this prisoner of war was of prime importance to the South African government. So he set about having a chat with the Angolan leadership. He was very good, as he describes it, at getting to know people and what they needed. The Southern African leaders wouldn't talk to each other, so he spoke to each of them, individually, on the others' behalf, and explained to each of them what made the others tick.

What ensued was quite remarkable. He describes having to negotiate with governments of six Southern African countries. Problem was, you couldn't fly direct from one African country to another, you had to go via Europe and double back! So he realised it would be easier, quicker, and much cheaper, just to hire his own plane, and that is what he did. He also explains how he only had one contact in each country - and once, he was in Angola when the president wasn't there, and he felt so uncomfortable that he decided to leave immediately. But the airport authorities wouldn't give his pilots permission to take off. He told them to do so anyway, so they turned off all the electronic equipment and off they went. The airport authorities advised that they were sending MiGs to shoot them down. So they just flew as fast as they could until they were over international waters..

You couldn't make it up. In the end, hundreds of prisoners of war - including Captain Wynand du Toit - were exchanged. Ollivier was credited with helping to end the war in Angola, and the way was paved for the release of Mandela, and the dismantling of apartheid. Ollivier became the only person to be awarded by both the apartheid government, and the post-apartheid government, when Mandela learned what he had done. This film tells the whole story, with interviews with many principal players, including Ollivier, P. W. Botha, and Chester Crocker, the American Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs at the time. Who, interestingly, kept reminding me of an older Benedict Cumberbatch. Something about the facial expressions. Anyway. Fascinating viewing, grippingly told. Caveat though - pay attention, there's a lot of detail here! This was a preview - apparently, it receives a general cinema release on the 15th, with a dvd release 10 days later.

When the people sitting outside me in the row decided they didn't want to stay for the Q+A, I decided I wouldn't bother either, and left. Enough detail, already! Handy that I was walking back through Chinatown - I was peckish, and just thinking it was a while since I'd had a Chinese. As I passed Wan Chai Corner (rightmost on this handy map), it looked ok, and I ate there. The service was the most efficient I've had in ages. Wine was a little nondescript, but the spring rolls were tasty enough, and the beef Szechuan and rice were terrific! Recommended. And as I came home through Earl's Court, I saw they still had an old sign there - "If you notice people staring at you, they are probably taking notes on your glamour and beauty." Or words to that effect. Ahh again!

Tomorrow night is looking like, ahem, The Turtle's Rage. Showing in Riverside Studios, it's a documentary - about Palestinians again, though, rather than turtles.. And then it's back to Ireland for the weekend.