His contribution has been huge - almost incomparable - and in a South African context of course, the best playwright the country has produced. His work is, and remains, a shocking indictment of the apartheid regime, and much else besides, which is why the plays have always attracted the greatest of stage actors – Sir Ben Kingsley and James Earl Jones to name a couple.

To celebrate Fugard's life and work, Tony Palmer made the first ever profile of this incredible man whose energy showed no sign of diminishing well into his 80s. Palmer plumbs the soul of Fugard through interviews with the playwright and those who knew and admired him, as well as presenting excerpts from some of his most significant plays.

We are delighted to welcome Tony Palmer for a Q&A after the screening.

ATHOL FUGARD
Athol Fugard, once described by TIME magazine as “the greatest living playwright”, remains the most performed playwright in the English language, besides Shakespeare, in the world. His 40 or so plays are given constantly in the United States, in Poland, Brazil, Australia, Japan, even Iran. An Oscar, ‘Tony’ Award and BAFTA were just some of his many prizes.

His work is and remains a shocking indictment of the apartheid regime, but much else besides which is why the plays have always attracted the greatest of stage actors – Sir Antony Sher, Sir Ben Kingsley, James Earl Jones, Paul Scofield and Dame Janet Suzman, as well as some of the great South African actors Fugard collaborated with including John Kani and Winston Ntschona.

Fugard was 80 in 2012, when Tony Palmer made the first ever profile of this incredible man whose energy at that time showed no sign of diminishing. That year alone he has had two new plays on Broadway. Palmer assembled a glittering cast – Nelson Mandela, Nadine Gordimer, Desmond Tutu, F.W.de Klerk, Alan Rickman, Kathy Bates, Matthew Broderick and Pieter Dirk-Uys to pay tribute, and the ANC provided some terrifying footage (including some of Steve Biko) of what life was like under apartheid. Palmer was also the first person to be given permission to film inside Mandela’s prison cell on the hated Robben Island where he had spent 27 years.