Endgame

South Africa...the late 1980s. The African National Congress (ANC) wages an armed struggle against apartheid; President P.W. Botha clings to the last threads of power; the country is on the brink of bloody insurrection. In a gripping thriller based on real-life events, Endgame drops us into this brutal conflict’s control centers: Nelson Mandela’s prison, Botha’s chambers, ANC headquarters, and, to our surprise, the rented car of a British businessman. It turns out that Consolidated Gold, a British mining concern, convinced that peaceful resolution in South Africa serves their interests, has initiated covert, unofficial talks between opposing sides. Brilliantly building suspense befitting the situation’s high stakes, Endgame chronicles this dangerous mission, where Michael Young, Consolidated’s head of public affairs, doggedly assembles a reluctant, yet impressive, crew to confront intractable obstacles in the way of reconciliation. ANC leader Thabo Mbeki and Afrikaner philosophy professor Willie Esterhuyse are chief among them. Zeroing in on the growing emotional empathy between Mbeki and Esterhuyse, which becomes the linchpin for the talks, this enormously moving story dramatizes the way that meticulous strategies, combined with serendipity, finally unlock change. While Mandela endures house arrest, terrorist bombs threaten the dialogue, and Botha’s regime gives way to F.W. de Klerk’s leadership, an unlikely cadre, secreted in a distant British manor, pave the way to black South African freedom and form a template for peace negotiations around the world.
CAST
William Hurt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mark Strong, Jonny Lee Miller

Pete Travis - Pete Travis made a commercial and critical splash on the movie scene with his feature-length directorial debut, Vantage Point (2008), which has grossed more than $170 million to date. His television movie Omagh won a BAFTA award for best drama as well as the Discovery Award at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival.

Screenings:

Sun. Jan 18 6:15 p.m. - ENDGA18CE Eccles Theatre, Park City
Mon. Jan 19 8:30 a.m. - ENDGA19PM Prospector Square Theatre, Park City
Tue. Jan 20 noon - ENDGA20SD Screening Room, Sundance Resort
Wed. Jan 21 6:30 p.m. - ENDGA21OA Peery's Egyptian Theater, Ogden
Sun. Jan 25 6:30 p.m. - ENDGA25GE Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, SLC