Tim's door was just the beginning. From the very first day, we started to collect intelligence about possible escape routes, says Tim, who now lives in Johannesburg. Alex Moumbaris was born in Egypt to Greek parents and grew up in Australia. Locked up in a maximum-security jail for setting off harmless leaflet propaganda bombs spreading dissent against the apartheid regime in 1970s South Africa, Stephen and friend Tim Jenkin were about to embark on one of the most audacious prison breaks in history. He reconnoitred the East Coast from Kosi Bay to East London in the course of his trips. 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People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Jenkin was born in Cape Town and educated at Rondebosch Boys' Prep and Boys' High School, matriculating aged 17. Once the plan is set in motion, the film itself feels unlocked: As a re-eenacted chapter of anti-apartheid history, Escape from Pretoria may not feel entirely authentic, but it knows its prison-movie terrain, from Alcatraz to Shawshank, inside out. While cleaning their corridor outside, Tim got his second key to fit but the bolt became stuck. In prison they met Denis Goldberg and on Alexandre Moumbaris - not on Leonard Fontaine. There was enough explosive inside to lift about 500 pamphlets into the air. There was only one guard on duty and he was chatting to Denis. Actually were Tim to 12 years and Stephen to 8 years in Pretoria Prison shipped after they Handed out leaflets with a (harmless) explosion. [12], After the success of their first mission, Jenkin worked on refining the mechanism by adding a triggering system to the leaflet bomb, so that they did not have to be close to it when it went off. skuggans caf lngtora. In 2015 he went on a national tour in Australia organised by Karel Boele speaking about his escape and community currencies. The third partner in the escape, Egyptian-born activist Alex Moumbaris, has been fictionalized as enigmatic Frenchman Leonard (Mark Leonard Winter), who has no discernible history or motivation at all, while two black allies in the plan are marginal presences at best. Nick Fentons editing, meanwhile, maintains a keen sense of physical space and strain, not least in one comically queasy scene where a dropped key must be retrieved with the aid of a broomstick and chewing gum. [21], Commenting on the 2017 French election, Moumbaris named Franois Asselineau as his favourite candidate, but he would vote for Marine Le Pen rather than Emmanuel Macron, purely based on protection of the nation against Macron's "financial fascism", but was still a staunch communist. In the end, it was the selfless actions of a fourth prisoner, Denis Goldberg - who had been sentenced alongside Mandela, and who would ultimately serve 22 years - who made their bid for freedom a reality. Lee moved back to Cape Town in December after enrolling in a master's degree in sociology, and the two continued their undercover work, but unbeknownst to them they were by this time under surveillance by the Security Branch of the South African Police. We walked out as if we had every right to be there. "We had to make the key under the noses of the guardsmen. 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. Jenkins book of the same title was published in 1987, when he was still living as a fugitive from nominal justice in London. Written and directed by Francis Annan, the historical thriller sheds light on how Stephen and Tim managed to defy all expectations and escape from the Pretoria Central Prison. We had . Alex Moumbaris (section Escape) and 1979 escape from, Pretoria Local Prison (within the Pretoria Central Prison complex) with Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee. Here, Jenkin met his future wife Robin. Escape from Pretoria. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. On 30 December they were flown to Zambia, where they were accommodated under armed guard in Lusaka and their presence was officially announced by the ANC in early January 1980. It was December 11, 1979, 18 months after our conviction, Stephen says. [19], In 2014 a documentary film called The Vula Connection, about Jenkin and his part in the creation of an ingenious secret communication system that enabled Vula operatives to penetrate South Africa's borders in secret, ultimately smuggling messages to the imprisoned Nelson Mandela, was made by Marion Edmunds. But he needed to create another one to make it into the next part of the prison. 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. I got a piece of paper and, using a knife, pressed it into the lock. After Lee's father brought him a copy of the book Papillon, the book inspired them to seriously consider the prospect of escape and they concentrated on rigorous observations of the world around them. He left for the UK in 1970, where, working in a fibreglass factory under poor working conditions and little pay, found the system unjust and developed an interest in sociology. Watch on. This was going to let us out of the cells into the corridor.. Then, one day he was working in a carpentry workshop and it struck him that the key could be wooden. ', Super Mario Bros. 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While Tim - the technical mastermind - was sentenced to 12 years in jail, his friend Stephen got eight years. On December 11th, 1979, three white activists, Tim Jenkin, Stephen Lee and Alex Moumbaris, escaped from Pretoria Central Prison. While their revolutionary deeds helped to change the course of history, their prison escape was that which garnered them real fame. We have a base load of around 70 Speaking to Metro.co.uk about learning the news Radcliffe would be portraying him, Jenkin (who was sentenced to 12 years in prison) said the A-list casting came as a surprise. [17] Lee, having many friends in Johannesburg, thought it best to contact them in the first instance, so the group split at that point, making plans to meet in London. Elated, they moved on to door three, which, incredibly, worked with the same key as the inner cell door. It was hugely emotional, Stephen recalls. framkalla filmrulle sjlv . Straining to listen through the grill in his prison cell door, Stephen Lee heard the satisfying click of a key turning in a lock. Now Escape From Pretoria tells the story of Jenkin and Stephen Lee, two white South African activists, imprisoned in 1978 for working on behalf of the African National Congress (ANC), and their escape from the notorious white mans Robben Island, Pretoria Prison. "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. Jenkin's autobiography Inside Out: Escape from Pretoria Prison is the inspiration for the screenplay and will tell the story of how Jenkin, Lee and Alex Moumbaris escaped the prison using. After months of meticulous surveillance, breath-taking ingenuity, and in a race against time . The prison, constructed from stone and steel, had gone down in prisoner folklore as being a fortress from which no one could ever hope to escape. Australian actor and former elite cyclist Nathan Page, best known internationally for his nuanced portrayal of Detective Inspector Jack Robinson in Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (2012), was born into an air force family in Perth on 25 August 1971. [2] Goldberg and the others decided to withdraw from the escape, with Goldberg continuing to be involved in the preparations. [4], After leaving school, he avoided conscription into the South African Defence Force, and worked at a variety of jobs for two years, with no particular interest in anything except motorcycle racing. [14] He afterwards said the prison was "luxury" compared to French prison. While awaiting clearance for membership, Jenkin worked as a social worker at a reform school in Swindon. For other inquiries, Contact Us. 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