The State Against Mandela and the Others

This synthesis of archival footage, animation, and interviews chronicles the 1964 Rivonia Trial in apartheid South Africa, which led to Nelson Mandela and his nine other black and Jewish co-defendants being sentenced to life imprisonment. There were no cameras in court, but this rousing documentary puts 256 hours of newly discovered audio to brilliant use. While Mandela captivated the world during the historic trial, each of his co-defendants endured the same withering cross-examinations, and each held fast to the moral high ground and played a crucial role in planting the seeds that would bloom decades later into the fall of apartheid.