Long Night's Journey Into Day

Long Night's Journey into Day is a documentary film that explores the aftermath of apartheid in South Africa through the lens of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The TRC was a special court that offered amnesty to perpetrators of human rights violations in exchange for their full confession and cooperation. The film follows four cases of the TRC, each involving a different aspect of the conflict between the white minority regime and the black majority resistance. The film shows the emotional and moral challenges of confronting the past and seeking forgiveness in a deeply divided society.

The film was directed by Deborah Hoffmann and Frances Reid, two award-winning filmmakers who spent two and a half years filming the TRC hearings and interviewing the participants. The film was narrated by Helen Mirren, a renowned British actress who has played several roles related to South Africa. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2001, and won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival in 20003.

The film is widely praised for its powerful and balanced portrayal of the human drama and the historical context of the TRC process. The film also raises important questions about the meaning and limits of justice, reconciliation, and forgiveness in the face of atrocities and trauma. The film is a compelling and insightful look into a unique and courageous experiment in healing a nation.

If you are interested in watching the film, you can find it on Amazon or IMDb.

This is a trans-formative film that touches deep and complex emotions . The visceral response of anger, hatred and revenge that surge from a feeling of being wronged are intensely powerful. This film attempts ,and succeeds in offering a mechanism and process that has the power to divert the impulse to kill to strike back to be vengeful, to perpetuate a cycle of violence into a outcome more difficult but ultimately cathartic and positive . It is a searing and haunting journey and one we can all learn from. restorative justice is a fragile process- it requires truth and responsibility and a belief that we share common human decency and dignity. It is not available to all; but if this base notion of justice was incorporated into our vindictive criminal justice system we would see dramatic and positive changes .

This is an impressive documentary - there can be no argument about that. The question is whether its because the subject of the documentary (the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission) is enough to make you sit back and rethink every thought you have ever had on pain, suffering and the vengefulness that invariable goes with it. Or perhaps it is the film makers' extraordinary ability to draw from the people involved an honesty and openness which is as impressive as it is devastating to watch.

You can not possibly watch this documentary without being changed by it and hopefully no opportunity will ever arise to make a documentary like this one again, so it is a must see.

This is definitely the best documentary I have ever seen. Enough said.

Long night's journey into day its a beautiful historic documentary which is telling four stories of apartheid in south africa as seen through the eyes of the truth and reconciliation commission. Its a teachable documentary reminding us as black africans were we coming from as a nation of black african and americans. This documentary was realesed on 9 march 2001 being directed by frances reid and johnny symons. History despite its wrenching pain cannot be unlived and if faced with courage need not be lived again. This a lesson of South Africans of how hard it was for the ANC to give the life we living today.

This documentary tells four true stories of apartheid in South Africa. As one of the people in the film points out, there is a Kafkaesque atmosphere about people confessing their atrocities in order to seek amnesty.

The point of both the hearings in the film and of the film itself is to be able to heal by facing the truth. Only in facing the past can we prevent ourselves from repeating it. We must remember the true horrors that humans can make for other humans. That is the only sane way of sustaining a better world that can emerge from the chaos.

Not an easy film to watch, there are times when anguish flies off the screen into the viewer. But purgation comes from witnessing truth, accepting it, and guarding against the evil within us that is capable of such horror. This is a human story that will alter your perspective on life.