Escape from Pretoria
All actors and roles (10)
All team (115)
Short description
Set in South Africa during the 1970s, this historical thriller follows Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee, two white political activists fighting against the apartheid regime. After being imprisoned in the high-security Pretoria Prison, the men seek to send a message to the government by escaping. To achieve this, they collaborate with other inmates to create wooden replicas of the prison keys in a workshop, attempting a dangerous breakout from one of the world's strictest facilities.
Directed by Francis Annan, who also co-wrote the screenplay with L. H. Adams, the film features Daniel Radcliffe as Tim Jenkin and Daniel Webber as Stephen Lee. The supporting cast includes Ian Hart, Mark Leonard Winter, Nathan Page, and Grant Piro. A joint production involving companies from South Africa, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, the movie earned 2 million USD at the worldwide box office.
The film received generally positive responses from audiences, earning a 6.8 rating on IMDb from 49,000 votes and a 7.2 rating on TMDB from 1,539 votes. Film critics gave the movie a slightly lower score of 6.4 based on 44 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- The filmmakers had to work hard to fit everything into 105 minutes of screen time, but a particular emphasis was placed on the accuracy of the narrative.
- In reality, the third escapee from the prison was Alex Mumbarys.
- The film is based on Tim Jenkins’ biographical book “Inside Out: Escape from Pretoria Central Prison” – the story of Jenkins’ own escape and that of his accomplices from a maximum-security prison in Pretoria, where he was serving a sentence for terrorist activities against apartheid. Tim Jenkins was present during filming and advised the actors and the filmmaking team.
- The film was shot on the 40th anniversary of the escape.
- The streets of Cape Town (South Africa), where the film’s action unfolds before the hero’s imprisonment, were filmed in Adelaide (Australia).
- Jenkins invented a new method of leaflet distribution based on an explosion similar to fireworks in 1975. This method was very effective – hundreds of leaflets with appeals were launched into the sky, attracting the attention of the crowd. He was convicted in 1978 to 12 years for inventing and repeatedly using leaflet bombs. He was quite skilled in carpentry as a child, so he independently made wooden copies of prison door keys, which allowed him to escape.
- Two suitable institutions – in the cities of Burra and Adelaide in South Australia – were used as the prison. Filming of visits inside the prison in Pretoria was done in Elizabeth, a suburb of Adelaide.
- The film features a chisel that Tim Jenkin actually used during his escape. He kept it and has now lent it to the filmmakers.
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