Free Nelson Mandela review — a gripping, unflinching documentary

James Rogan’s three-part series ends in 1994, when Nelson Mandela became president, and traces the long, brutal road to that moment. It is gripping, revelatory and pulls no punches, evoking a world of racial insult, physical violence, emotional torment and stark economic unfairness — from white South Africans suggesting Black compatriots had “only just come down from the trees” to British young Conservatives with “Hang Nelson Mandela” posters.

Mandela is often present as a looming absence: his half-life on Robben Island becomes a framing device that draws in lawyers, activists, journalists, judges, politicians and pop stars. As Dali Tambo says, “He became more than himself.” The series follows the diasporic resistance — Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela in exile, activists such as Peter Hain in Britain — and the fighters inside South Africa, including James Mange, who later joined Mandela on Robben Island.

South Africa

nelson mandela, robben island, apartheid, james rogan, miriam makeba, hugh masekela, peter hain, james mange, diasporic resistance, south africa