An Act of Defiance / Bram Fischer
Buy it on DVD or on Blu-Ray or watch it on Amazon Prime Year: 2017 Length: 123 minutes Country: Director: Jean van de Velde Genre: |
In this riveting historical drama, 10 political activists (including Nelson Mandela and his inner circle of Black and Jewish supporters) face a possible death sentence for conspiracy to commit sabotage after they are arrested by the apartheid South African government during a raid in the town of Rivonia during the summer of 1963. Bram Fischer (exceptionally played by Peter Paul Muller), a sympathetic lawyer, risks his career and freedom to defend these men, attempting to hide the fact that he, too, frequently convened on the farm where they were arrested.
Shown at
- 15th Annual JCC Rockland International Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- 16th Annual Ruth and Bernard Friedman Windsor Jewish Film Festival - 2019
- 20th Annual Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival (Detroit) - 2018
- 22nd Annual Hartford Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- 23rd Denver Jewish Film Festival - 2019
- 26th Portland Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- 26th Toronto Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- 28th Annual San Diego Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Altoona Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Athens Jewish Film Festival - 2019
- Atlanta Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Austin Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Baltimore Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Barshop JCC Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Boca Raton Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Boulder Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Budapesti Zsidó és Izraeli Filmfesztivál - 2018
- Carmel Jewish Film Festival - 2019
- Charlotte Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Chattanooga Jewish Film Series - 2019
- Chicago Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Cincinnati Jewish & Israeli Film Festival - 2019
- Cleveland Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Columbia Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Columbus Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Corvallis Jewish Film Festival - 2019
- Dayton Jewish International Film Festival - 2018
- Donald M. Ephraim Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- East Bay International Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Edmonton Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Falmouth Jewish Congregation Summer Jewish Film Festival - 2019
- Falmouth Jewish Congregation Summer Jewish Film Series - 2018
- Festival Internacional de Cine Judio Mexico - 2019
- Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Houston Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Jewish and Israeli Film Festival (Allentown) - 2019
- Jewish Arts and Film Festival of Fairfield County - 2018
- Jewish Film Festival (Chautauqua) - 2019
- Jewish Film Festival of Southwest Florida - 2018
- JFilm Festival (Pittsburgh) - 2018
- Louisville Jewish Film Festival - 2019
- Maine Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Miami Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Milwaukee Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Mobile Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Morris and Mollye Fogelman International Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Moscow Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- New York Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Northern Virginia International Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Palm Springs Jewish Film Festival - 2019
- Pioneer Valley Jewish Film Festival - 2019
- Randi & Bruce Pergament Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Schenectady Jewish Film Festival - 2019
- Seattle Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- SFJFF WinterFest - 2018
- Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- St. Louis Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- The National Center For Jewish Film's 21st Annual Film Festival - 2018
- Triad Jewish Film Festival - 2019
- Tucson International Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Vancouver Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Virginia Festival of Jewish Film - 2019
- Virginia Peninsula Jewish Film Festival - 2018
- Washington Jewish Film Festival - 2018
“An Act of Defiance” examines whether apartheid can be conquered with the force of words and nonviolence.
https://atlantajewishtimes.timesofisrael.com/review-apartheid-fight-offers-lessons-for-u-s/
The film is on the one hand a courtroom drama and on the other hand a portrait of a lawyer who grows into a key figure in the anti-apartheid movement, but at the same time plays with fire because he is still actively involved in the underground resistance.
http://reviewsbyamoslassen.com/?p=62815
Jean van de Velde’s movie is both a moving and powerful meditation on the sacrifices necessary to stand against injustice, and an exciting political thriller.
https://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/2767073/an-act-of-defiance-stands-up-at-walter-reade-theatre
The film does not shy away from the pivotal issues of those grim days prior to the deportation of Mandela and his crowd to Robben Island, with fellow ANC leaders being driven into exile. The intensely debated role of armed struggle by the liberation movement’s leaders and the contested co-operation with white South Africans in that movement are subtly written into the script.
https://www.zammagazine.com/perspectives/blog/476-mandela-s-lawyer-the-afrikaner-communist
Producer Michael Auret expreses his thoughts on the film, “It’s appropriate that across the water from Robben Island, home to so many that gave their lives for the establishment of a non-racist and democratic South Africa, we can have the African Premiere of a film which celebrates the life and work of some that we have not heard before.”
http://www.samdb.co.za/blogs/blog/2017/10/06/an-act-of-defience-the-bram-fischer-story-to-open-cifmf/