NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Long walk from guerrilla to hero

By Vanessa Thorpe
NZ Herald·
13 May, 2011 09:21 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A British film-maker who made a controversial drama about the history of Israel is to risk fresh criticism with a feature film about Nelson Mandela's early life as a leader of the African National Congress terrorist arm in South Africa.

Peter Kosminsky said he would not shy from depicting a
violent part of Mandela's past that is often avoided in deference to the statesmanship of his later life.

"The story I am trying to tell is of the early years of Mandela up until the imprisonment," he said.

"He is rightly now seen as the greatest living human being, a man who delivered South Africa from the brink of a civil war, but he was once on the military wing of the ANC."

Kosminsky said that as a former documentary-maker he was drawn to contentious subjects such as the death of United Nations weapons inspector Dr David Kelly, tackled in The Government Inspector.

Kosminsky's The Promise, which drew comparisons between the Zionist terrorism of the 1940s and Palestinian suicide bombings in Israel, has been acclaimed as a powerful drama, but provoked attacks from some Jewish commentators who see it as biased against Israel. Novelist Howard Jacobson accused the work of being a "ludicrous piece of brainwashed prejudice".

In France, it prompted demonstrations when it was broadcast in March, with an official disclaimer labelling it fiction. In Britain, Ofcom, the broadcasting watchdog, examined the screenplay after receiving complaints and ruled last month that there had been no breach of its code of conduct.

The drama has been nominated for a Bafta award.

"I am beaten but unbowed," said the writer.

"The Promise is probably the thing I am most proud of. I knew it would raise hackles with some people but the thing I have found most difficult, as a Jew, is the suggestion that the criticism of Israel is racist."

Kosminsky sees parallels between the situation in Israel and the former apartheid regime in South Africa.

"I would describe it as apartheid. I was not seeking to reflect this view in The Promise, but if you ask me personally, then I do.

"What is happening in Israel is very akin to the concept of separate development. It reminds me of the Bantustan policy of the South African government."

In the 1940s, Bantustan territories were set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa as part of apartheid.

The writer said his approach to Mandela's story would be to "confront people of a certain political persuasion that this is a more complicated man than they might have believed".

The production, with the working title Young Mandela, is yet to be cast but will feature the roles of Winnie Mandela, his first wife Evelyn, Joe Slovo, who led the Communist Party, and Thabo Mbeki's father, Govan.

Kosminsky said the film would include a scene in which Mandela was instructing activists on how to blow up a building, but that he would underline the ANC's policy of avoiding human casualties.

"I am not doing a hatchet job on him. I am probably his biggest fan," he said.

"I was very involved with the anti-apartheid movement in my youth. In fact, I used to give Adelaide Tambo a lift around London."

As a film-maker, Kosminsky said he was driven as much to tell a good story as to explain a period of history. "My primary purpose for making The Promise was artistic."

Critics of the serial said it focused on the lives of rich Israelis and gave a partial view.

Kosminsky defended his decision to send his naive heroine, Erin, to stay with a wealthy family who had a grandfather who fought a terror campaign against the British in the Mandate period after World War II from inside the secret Zionist paramilitary organisation, Irgun.

"Her grandfather is based on a man I met at the Irgun museum, and the things he says are almost exactly what was said to me.

"People said I was trying to reinforce old stereotypes, but if you watch a television show looking for prejudices you are going to find them."

Kosminsky said it was important to examine the moment when people take up an armed struggle, and the moment when, ideally, they can later operate as politicians and statesmen and become involved in peaceful negotiation.

"Mandela is a terrorist who became a statesman and a peacemaker. If I had been around in Germany in the 1930s, I might have shot Adolf Hitler if the chance had come along, so I can see how someone might think it was the right thing to do.

"If Nelson Mandela had been executed as a terrorist we would not have had the peaceful transition we had in South Africa. The crucial moment for a former terrorist is the moment they act against their own self-interest - when they turn the other cheek."

- OBSERVER

Discover more

World

Winnie Mandela: Singing her praises

27 Apr 06:00 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Entertainment

Herald NOW

Herald NOW: Paul Henry to host The Chase NZ

EntertainmentUpdated

Paul Henry announced as host of The Chase New Zealand

03 Jun 08:10 PM
Entertainment

'Control your scroll': TikTok's new tools to personalise your feed

03 Jun 10:00 AM

Sponsored: Into the woods - the new biophilic design

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Entertainment

Herald NOW: Paul Henry to host The Chase NZ

Herald NOW: Paul Henry to host The Chase NZ

Jenni Mortimer joins Ryan Bridge in the studio to talk about Paul Henry's new role hosting The Chase NZ. Video / Herald NOW

Paul Henry announced as host of The Chase New Zealand

Paul Henry announced as host of The Chase New Zealand

03 Jun 08:10 PM
'Control your scroll': TikTok's new tools to personalise your feed

'Control your scroll': TikTok's new tools to personalise your feed

03 Jun 10:00 AM
La Clique – the headline show of Auckland Live Cabaret Festival

La Clique – the headline show of Auckland Live Cabaret Festival

Sponsored: Why wallpaper works wonders
sponsored

Sponsored: Why wallpaper works wonders

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search