It is very rare indeed to find someone who is good through and through, but Desmond Tutu (1931–2021) belongs in that category. His moral compass was put to the test many times over. As South Africa’s first Black archbishop, he played a key role in the struggle against apartheid and was deeply hated by his white compatriots. And, later, Black South Africans called him a traitor because, as the chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, he granted forgiveness even to the worst perpetrators of human rights violations. But the Nobel laureate continued, until the end of his long life, to believe in love.
This biographical documentary is no hagiography and that is thanks in large part to the wealth of archival footage available to Sam Pollard. Much of it was shot by journalists Roger Friedman and Benny Gool, who followed Tutu closely for 20 years and were given unlimited access to all aspects of his life. Their material helps make this film a deeply human portrait of the man with the infectious “hyena laugh,” who could only be comforted by his wife Leah and who once told Reagan to “go to hell.”
Stills
