The epic true story of late Archbishop Desmond Tutu has been turned into a biography of courage, activism, freedom and justice.
Attuned You, in collaboration with the SABC and Arena Holdings, will premiere The Arch on SABC2 this Sunday.
The biography features in-depth interviews with family members including daughter Thandeka Tutu-Gxashe and son Trevor Tutu, as well as fellow activists and colleagues, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, Dr Brigalia Bam, Dr Alan Boesak, Cheryl Carolus, Mathata Tsedu, Yasmin Sooka and many other prominent veterans of the struggle against the then South African apartheid regime.
The four-part biography by emerging production company Attuned You is an emotive, rare archive-footage-driven series, charting Tutu’s journey from activist chaplain at Fort Hare University in 1968 to leading the interdenominational inauguration of Nelson Mandela.
The Arch tells the story of a pious man who comes to political activism late in adulthood and takes on a conservative and racist opposition, against his rise to leadership within the Anglican church, as well as the brutal repression of the apartheid state.
But it also brims with laughter and Tutu’s exuberant sense of humour.
The Arch is written and directed by Clarence Hamilton, who wrote and directed the first SA/Canada Treaty co-production, Molo Fish, and is produced by Eddie Mbalo, a veteran of the South African film and television industry.
It is executive produced by Naniwe Maqetuka and Ryland Fisher.
“We’re so excited that The Arch is the first television documentary Attuned You has produced to mark its entry into the South African film universe, with a signature quality and depth of storytelling that we intend to bring into all our work,” Maqetuka said.
She said that Attuned You’s vision was for Africans and South Africans to tell the stories of iconic Africans and South Africans.
“This documentary is the first of many which will tell the stories of great people from our country and our continent.”
Fisher said the journey to making the series was a powerful exploration of the man who became “The Arch”.
“It took three long years of weekly meetings to find all the essential elements that brought together a team that despite tremendous odds and bureaucratic hurdles can proclaim that The Arch would have been very proud.”
Mbalo said: “The Arch will make you laugh, and it will make you cry, particularly because the interviewees provide such emotional testimony of their experience with the late Archbishop Tutu in the struggle against apartheid.”
The Arch is scheduled to be broadcast on SABC2, on Sunday at 9.30pm.
HeraldLIVE
New documentary to highlight ‘courage, activism and humour’ of Tutu
Image: SUPPLIED
The epic true story of late Archbishop Desmond Tutu has been turned into a biography of courage, activism, freedom and justice.
Attuned You, in collaboration with the SABC and Arena Holdings, will premiere The Arch on SABC2 this Sunday.
The biography features in-depth interviews with family members including daughter Thandeka Tutu-Gxashe and son Trevor Tutu, as well as fellow activists and colleagues, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, Dr Brigalia Bam, Dr Alan Boesak, Cheryl Carolus, Mathata Tsedu, Yasmin Sooka and many other prominent veterans of the struggle against the then South African apartheid regime.
The four-part biography by emerging production company Attuned You is an emotive, rare archive-footage-driven series, charting Tutu’s journey from activist chaplain at Fort Hare University in 1968 to leading the interdenominational inauguration of Nelson Mandela.
The Arch tells the story of a pious man who comes to political activism late in adulthood and takes on a conservative and racist opposition, against his rise to leadership within the Anglican church, as well as the brutal repression of the apartheid state.
But it also brims with laughter and Tutu’s exuberant sense of humour.
The Arch is written and directed by Clarence Hamilton, who wrote and directed the first SA/Canada Treaty co-production, Molo Fish, and is produced by Eddie Mbalo, a veteran of the South African film and television industry.
It is executive produced by Naniwe Maqetuka and Ryland Fisher.
“We’re so excited that The Arch is the first television documentary Attuned You has produced to mark its entry into the South African film universe, with a signature quality and depth of storytelling that we intend to bring into all our work,” Maqetuka said.
She said that Attuned You’s vision was for Africans and South Africans to tell the stories of iconic Africans and South Africans.
“This documentary is the first of many which will tell the stories of great people from our country and our continent.”
Fisher said the journey to making the series was a powerful exploration of the man who became “The Arch”.
“It took three long years of weekly meetings to find all the essential elements that brought together a team that despite tremendous odds and bureaucratic hurdles can proclaim that The Arch would have been very proud.”
Mbalo said: “The Arch will make you laugh, and it will make you cry, particularly because the interviewees provide such emotional testimony of their experience with the late Archbishop Tutu in the struggle against apartheid.”
The Arch is scheduled to be broadcast on SABC2, on Sunday at 9.30pm.
HeraldLIVE
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