All Rights Reserved. [7], Jenkin and Lee appeared at a press conference in Lusaka with Oliver Tambo on 2 January 1980 to tell their stories,[25] before moving to London, where Jenkin worked as a research officer for the International Defence and Aid Fund. While reminiscing about his childhood years, he suddenly remembered how he would pick locks back at home. Escape from Pretoria airs on Saturday, 4 July, at 20:00 on TNT (DStv 137) We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred. Jenkin and Lee - joined by fellow inmate and French national Alex Moumbaris - decide to send the regime a clear message and escape. The last 30-odd years have seen such a wealth of diverse, resonant personal histories emerge from the ashes of apartheid not least that of the actual, not-white Mandela that " Escape from. It was suspected South African agents may have raided the home for documents to use in Moumbaris' trial. [9], In February 1974, Jenkin and Lee left the country in order to join the ANC in London, with the intention of helping to bring about change in South Africa. In times of uncertainty you need journalism you can trust. There was enough explosive inside to lift about 500 pamphlets into the air. We has skype chats, he wanted to learn about the character and the accent, Jenkin, now-71, explained of the study Radcliffe did to ace his portrayal. But the film still works in lockdown mode as a premium rental. There has only been one successful prison break since. The wooden key didnt work at first. After that they made it to Mozambique, Angola, and then on to Europe. At first the wooden key didnt turn the inner cell door lock. Using an ingenious homemade wooden key attached, like a crankshaft, to the end of a broomstick, Tim had just got through his outer cell door. Tim did eventually carve a key to fit, but when he tried it the bolt jammed and he had to return to his cell. Imposing: Pretoria Prison Speaking from his home in North London, dad-of-two Stephen, now 62, says they had been determined to escape from the moment they arrived at notorious Pretoria. 'Escape from Pretoria' will . The key, fortunately, also worked for the door of Stephen's neighbouring cell. He continued: [It was] the only thing we managed to keep; we got rid of the all the keys immediately, but for some reason we kept thatprobably as a weapon. As clunkily deployed in the [] "You are the white Mandela," says a ham-faced warden, all but spitting in the face of anti-apartheid activist Tim Jenkin upon his arrival at Pretoria Local Prison in 1978. The video features excerpts from interviews with Jenkin, Lee, Moumbaris and Goldberg filmed in 2012, in between re-enacted scenes of the prison escape. We had to make these parts under the noses of the guards. [7] Goldberg distracted the warden while the three made their escape. "I just took the chance and carried the parts of the key and tools we needed, a triangular file and some glue in a Thermos flask," he said. Escape from Pretoria sees Daniel Radcliffe in a very different role from his work in the Harry Potter franchise. Stephen and Tim, 64, whose story is told tonight in Breakout on the National Geographic Channel, were supporters of Nelson Mandelas ANC who had been put under surveillance by South Africas secret police for their clandestine activity. He was visited in prison twice a year by his mother and young son, Boris, from France. This was going to let us out of the cells into the corridor.. Stephen would wait until the guards had gone to sleep. There were a few worrying signs that Jenkin was being monitored, but he went to London to see Robin for six weeks and returned without incident. The way Jenkin speaks about the escape is with a sort of whimsy, despite the danger theyd be in if they were caught suppose with 40 years between you and the act, theres been time to reflect. [19] The street was deserted, but they still had to find their way out of South Africa, into Mozambique and to freedom. At night there were dogs in the yard, Stephen told The Mirror. There was an effort to rebuild the armed wing known as Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), and a plan was hatched by Oliver Tambo, Joe Slovo and/or Moses Mabhida, with the help of the South African Communist Party[2] to land 25 combatants plus arms via a boat previously purchased by the ANC, the Adventurer (or Avventura[4]), on the Transkei coast via the Indian Ocean from Somalia. But we got away with it. A guard who found it assumed a colleague was to blame. When youre making it the lock is right there, you keep filing it until it fits in the holes. It was dangerous, they did have regular inspections. La historia del activista sudafricano Tim Jenkin inspira Fuga de Pretoria, . In fact, things have been kept so by the book, so to speak, the actors used the actual tool Jenkin and Lee as well as third prisoner Alex Moumbaris employed in their daring escape. [2] In 1995, Jenkin wrote a 6-part article series called Talking to Vula: The Story of the Secret Underground Communications Network of Operation Vula. The jaw-dropping story of how two men broke out of the infamous maximum-security Pretoria Prison - and eventually on to the UK - has been given the Hollywood treatment in new blockbuster 'Escape From Pretoria', starring Daniel Radcliffe as Tim. People said how can you make keys out of wood, they wouldnt be strong enough, but when we broke them up it was quite a mission, we had to use the chisel.. They then photocopied it and swapped it with other students. Lying on his bunk one night, he gazed at the lock in front of him and had a flash of inspiration. It was a victory over the system., Escape From Pretoria is released in UK cinemas on Friday, March 6, News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. The lifelong supporters of the Nelson-Mandela-led African National Congress, they strove to mobilize the people to abolish segregation. [37][38] Jenkin spent some time in Adelaide, advising Radcliffe on accent and other aspects of the film, as well as playing as an extra, playing a prisoner next to Radcliffe in the visiting room. "We were right underneath an armed guard but he didnt see us. Their arrest was part of a government sting to apprehend operatives from "the Moumbaris Adventurer Episode". It was not until the following morning that the warders realised the three men were missing. However, escaping - something no inmate had successfully done before - was going to be no easy task. I took the file that I brought, and I had the lock in front of me so I could keep testing it, he explained of the agonisingly slow process. He tells how Tim had been given a 12-year sentence and he had got eight years inside. On arrival at Pretoria, a jail for white political prisoners, both men were so focused on escaping they even asked relatives to smuggle in money for taxi fares once they broke out. [2], In March 1988, Moumbaris was at the side of ANC Chief Representative Dulcie September in 1988 when she was shot and killed outside the office in Paris. The film was released on 6 March 2020, first in the UK and USA and then in the rest of the world. He worked for the ANC Elections Briefing Unit from 1994 (the year of the first fully democratic elections in South Africa), before being appointed head of their Electronic Information Unit in Cape Town later that year. [6], In June 1973, Moumbaris was sentenced to 12 years in prison for conspiring with the ANC to "instigate violent revolution in South Africa', aiding guerrillas to enter the country, distributing ANC literature and reconnoitering the coast to find places for the sea-borne landing of guerrillas and arms. The pair ended up behind bars in the South African city of Tshwane in 1979 due to their roles as white supporters of Nelson Mandelas then-banned African National Congress (ANC). Through reading material banned by the government, they came to see the "naked reality" of apartheid and the undemocratic behavior of the ruling party, and felt a burning desire to effect positive change, which, Jenkin concluded, was only possible using unconstitutional means under the current regime. Just supporting the liberation movement was deemed to be terrorism.. . "You are the white Mandela," says a ham-faced warden, all but spitting in the face of anti-apartheid activist Tim Jenkin upon his arrival at Pretoria Local Prison in 1978. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. "After that I took a chance and took the parts we needed, including a file, back to my cell in a Thermos flask.. "I wanted to run but we just kept walking to the railway station, where we used our money to get in a taxi," Stephen said. Their fellow inmates told them theyd never make it. This movie is based on the book written by Jenkin himself and because of the Escape from Pretoria feels very personal and up-close. Adams and Karol Griffiths, director Annan certainly preserved that unique touch but also added some very entertaining and wonderful cinematic elements to it. In February 1974, Jenkin and Lee left the country in order to join the ANC in London, with the intention of helping to bring about change in South Africa. Years later, while based in Camden, North London, he would set up a rudimentary computer that enabled coded messages to be sent from the ANC to their agents and even to Mandela in prison. My heart was racing. So I wouldnt say its embellished at all, its quite accurate, he explains. "We would go to crowded bus stations and markets and leave them. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. After a few tries, he managed to get the key to the right position and the door opened. He was born in Egypt to Greek parents, grew up in Australia, lived and worked in the UK, was imprisoned in South Africa and now lives in France. He successfully distributed leaflets this way on Cape Town's Grand Parade. The film Escape from Pretoria was based on Tim Jenkins' book Inside Out: Escape from Pretoria Central Prison. [9] When an escape committee of three prisoners was set up, Moumbaris (and not Jenkin or Lee) was selected as he was "the most vociferous" and a good negotiator. This virus has brutally disrupted many cinematic dreams. Moumbaris was charged under the Terrorism Act in January 1973. Despite the feature film makeover, there is no embellishment of Jenkins recollection in the script, based on his 2003 bookInside Out: Escape from Pretoria Prison. El primer adelanto de este dramtico filme nos da un vistazo a la difcil situacin por la que pas para intentar sobrevivir. But Tim Jenkin did, and you may be surprised to learn one of the most daring prison escapes was executed right under the noses of Pretoria Prison guards back in 1979 and involved nothing but the keys made in Jenkins own cell. [8] He and Lee went on a speaking tour in Sweden in the early 1980s. 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