We worked quite closely and he wanted to know what to emphasise, he was very keen to portray the mood and, well, me, I guess, as accurately as he could.. For Jenkin, that cost is a 12-year prison sentence, handed down after he and his best friend Stephen Lee (Daniel Webber, tersely charismatic in a thin part) were caught planting a leaflet bomb to distribute ANC protest flyers in central Cape Town. After months of meticulous surveillance, breath-taking ingenuity, and in a race against time as the authorities strengthen the prison security defenses, the group craft wooden keys for each of the 10 steel doors separating them from the main door and freedom. There was an effort to rebuild the armed wing known as Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), and a plan was hatched by Oliver Tambo, Joe Slovo and/or Moses Mabhida, with the help of the South African Communist Party[2] to land 25 combatants plus arms via a boat previously purchased by the ANC, the Adventurer (or Avventura[4]), on the Transkei coast via the Indian Ocean from Somalia. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. Years later, while based in Camden, North London, he would set up a rudimentary computer that enabled coded messages to be sent from the ANC to their agents and even to Mandela in prison. The video features excerpts from interviews with Moumbaris, Jenkin, Lee and fellow inmate Denis Goldberg filmed in 2012, in between re-enacted scenes of the prison escape. Sneaking out of their cells at night, they soon managed to get through door four. . . [2] He started associating with African National Congress (ANC) exiles and beginning in 1967, he travelled in and out of South Africa transporting literature for the movement. [3], On 23 October 1973, the matter of possible theft of documents from the Clapham Common home of Moumbaris and his wife was raised in the UK parliament by Labour party MP Alex Lyon. Its reputation as a hellhole jail remains, and these days it houses - among 7,000 inmates - none other than disgraced Olympic champion Oscar Pistorius. He had been waiting for this sound for several hours every night for two months. He's best known as the anti-apartheid activist who. [23], In December 1979,[7] Jenkin, Lee and fellow inmate Alex Moumbaris[24][17] broke out of Pretoria Central Prison using handmade keys to ten of the doors leading out of the prison, after several hair-raising moments when encountering unforeseen obstacles. It took them months to crack the fourth lock. However, escaping - something no inmate had successfully done before - was going to be no easy task. We were contemplating escape even before our conviction. Ready to find out more about the real story Escape from Pretoria is based on? During this time they learnt of the activities of the African National Congress (ANC), which was an illegal organisation in South Africa. They caught us with printing equipment. [23], As the plan evolved it became clear that for the escape to be successful it would have to be restricted to three people, who would have to hide in a small closet at one point. [2], Moumbaris became involved with the ANC at a time when the organisation had suffered many setbacks. After that they made it to Mozambique, Angola, and then on to Europe. It was hugely emotional. Moumbaris's family migrated to Australia when he was young and he became a naturalised Australian citizen,[1] but he left for France when he was 16 years old. [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. He signalled his wish to be included in any possible escape plan to Jenkin even before the idea was presented to him, after Jenkin had mentioned he and Lee had brought some money into prison. [37][38] Jenkin spent some time in Adelaide, advising Radcliffe on accent and other aspects of the film, as well as playing as an extra, playing a prisoner next to Radcliffe in the visiting room. This was how he knew how long the key needed to be. 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. The jaw-dropping story of how two men broke out of the infamous maximum-security Pretoria Prison - and eventually on to the UK - has been given the Hollywood treatment in new blockbuster 'Escape From Pretoria', starring Daniel Radcliffe as Tim. It was dangerous, they did have regular inspections. We walked out as if we had every right to be there. All Rights Reserved. The French Communist Party published a press release in his support on 20 May 2011. There was also a six-metre high barbed-wire perimeter fence. 2020 PG-13 1h 46m DVD . We had to make these parts under the noses of the guards. In 2015 he went on a national tour in Australia organised by Karel Boele speaking about his escape and community currencies. The trial in the Cape Town Supreme Court went from 6 to 15 June 1978. To make this possible, they befriended another inmate, Alex Moumbaris. All Rights Reserved. We would spot the night warden and your heart is just pumping," said Tim. The pair ended up behind bars in the South African city of Tshwane in 1979 due to their roles as white supporters of Nelson Mandelas then-banned African National Congress (ANC). 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. He is best known for his 1979 escape from Pretoria Local Prison (part of the Pretoria Central Prison complex), along with Stephen Lee and Alex Moumbaris. 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Jordan Meets Reporter at 'Creed III' Premiere Who 'Teased Him all the Time' in High School: 'I Was the Corny Kid, Right? Jenkins book of the same title was published in 1987, when he was still living as a fugitive from nominal justice in London. My heart was racing. [31][32] In 2013, the story of the prison escape was dramatised in the 7th episode of the 2nd season of Breakout, a television series made by National Geographic TV channel dramatising real-life prison escapes. Nathan Page. The ol razzle dazzle where his journey looks nothing like how it has been portrayed on screen, In a way the real story is even more exciting, its just too long to fit into the 100 minutes, so theyve taken license to summaries a whole lot of events into one. [18], From there they were flown to Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania, accompanied by MK commander, Joe Modise. With Daniel Radcliffe, Daniel Webber, Ian Hart, Mark Leonard Winter. I took the file that I brought, and I had the lock in front of me so I could keep testing it, he explained of the agonisingly slow process. Timothy Peter Jenkin (born 1948) is a South African writer, former anti-apartheid activist and political prisoner. [10], His relationship with the jailers tended towards being outwardly defiant and somewhat aggressive, laughing at new wardens who tried to discipline him. Rent EGP 29.99 Buy EGP 149.99 Trailers Trailer 14+ COMMON SENSE Using an ingenious homemade wooden key attached, like a crankshaft, to the end of a broomstick, Tim had just got through his outer cell door. Here, Jenkin met his future wife Robin. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. He had big plans to shoot Escape from Pretoria in South Africa a couple of years ago, but the money fell through. Hirson then communicated with Joe Slovo in Mozambique and a date for the escape was set and an escape vehicle arranged. [21], In May 2011, Moumbaris was charged with making a "Public call to discrimination" and set to appear in court in Flers, in Normandy. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. "After that I took a chance and took the parts we needed, including a file, back to my cell in a Thermos flask.. There he met and married a French woman, Marie-Jos. Moumbaris was charged under the Terrorism Act in January 1973. and 1979 escape from, Pretoria Local Prison (within the Pretoria Central Prison complex) with Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee. A lot of people cant understand how we got the shape of the key, but if you break it down most of the dimensions you get from the lock itself, you measure the hole, Jenkin explains like its nothing. "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. SLOUCHED on his bed in the small, dingy cell of the notorious jail where he was destined to spend the next 12 years, Tim Jenkin had a flash of inspiration. A massive police operation was launched to recapture the convicts, but by that time Stephen and Tim were on their way out of South Africa, to safety in the UK. Escape From Pretoria is in cinemas Friday. A third prisoner, Alex Moumbaris, was brought in to be part of the escape. All of them imprisoned for underground work on behalf of the . [8] He and Lee went on a speaking tour in Sweden in the early 1980s. 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. 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