He escaped with fellow activists Stephen Lee and Alex Moumbaris. Alex Moumbaris (section Escape) and 1979 escape from, Pretoria Local Prison (within the Pretoria Central Prison complex) with Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee. Moumbaris was the only non-South African prisoner, and when Jenkin met him, he appeared as "a little aloof". Actor: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. 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. Here, Jenkin met his future wife Robin. Moumbaris is renamed Leonard Fontaine and played by Mark Leonard Winter.[27][28]. It's not intended as a compliment: "The most deluded of them all," the warden adds, lest it be taken as such. It was gut-wrenching the length of time we were given, he says. Its surprising that its taken this long to reach the screen, given how sveltely his gripping story fits into a genre-film uniform. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Tim's door was just the beginning. Nathan Page. For 14 free days, you can have access to a world of in-depth analyses, investigative journalism, top opinions and a range of features. In the 1990s he and others created an association dedicated to the memory of Joseph Stalin, later dissolved but re-formed, for his role in creating socialism, with free health and education. and 1979 escape from, Pretoria Local Prison (within the Pretoria Central Prison complex) with Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee. Locked up in a maximum-security jail for leaflets against apartheid, they embarked on one of the most audacious escapes in history. Unwilling to take any more risks, they had to leave this final barrier untested until the night of the actual escape. [2] In June 2018, he was received by South African ambassador Rapu Molekane at the embassy in Paris. Timothy Peter Jenkin (born 1948) is a South African writer, former anti-apartheid activist and political prisoner. "We were right underneath an armed guard but he didnt see us. The film will be especially endearing to viewers who love to hone in on how to, for example, make tools that look innocuous and can be easily hidden. They had to leave it untested until the actual night of their escape, December 11, 1979 - 18 months after their conviction. Director Francis Annan and his co-writer L.H . [9] When an escape committee of three prisoners was set up, Moumbaris (and not Jenkin or Lee) was selected as he was "the most vociferous" and a good negotiator. He had big plans to shoot Escape from Pretoria in South Africa a couple of years ago, but the money fell through. During this time they learnt of the activities of the African National Congress (ANC), which was an illegal organisation in South Africa. My heart was racing. Once Tim had cracked the third door, inmate Alexis Moumbaris, pictured, joined the escape effort Each night after lights went out, the trio sneaked out of their cells - once Tim had used the. The prison, constructed from stone and steel, had gone down in prisoner folklore as being a fortress from which no one could ever hope to escape. Moubaris went to the USSR for training. [13], Marie-Jos was repeatedly denied a visitor's visa to visit him in prison, and in February 1978 Moumbaris went on a hunger strike to try to force the authorities to let her in, but after 10 days realised the futility of this and gave up. [14] He afterwards said the prison was "luxury" compared to French prison. The movie begins with their early days spent planting harmless pamphlet bombs across Cape Town, before plunging us into the tepid everyday life of political prisoners. How? 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. 3 views today. So it is a very strange sort of thing., Jenkin continues: It is very exciting [to watch] but I knew the outcome. He lived and worked in UK and later moved to South Africa. I felt so elated. Jenkin was born in Cape Town and educated at Rondebosch Boys' Prep and Boys' High School, matriculating aged 17. While awaiting clearance for membership, Jenkin worked as a social worker at a reform school in Swindon. [12], Moumbaris, although enrolled in university courses, did not undertake formal studies at all while in prison; it was a cover so extra books could be obtained from the university library for everyone to make use of; it was a way of keeping themselves informed about the world. The French Communist Party published a press release in his support on 20 May 2011. 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. [11] The wardens were all Afrikaans-speaking and were not fluent in English, and while most of the prisoners were fairly fluent in Afrikaans, they were not familiar with the topics they talked about. This one actually has its roots in a real-life story, as it'll be based on Tim Jenkin's autobiography Inside Out: Escape From Pretoria Prison. 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. After a few tries, he managed to get the key to the right position and the door opened. why is alex moumbaris not in escape from pretoria. He became instrumental to the escape plan in several ways, making the early suggestion any escape plan would have to involve the making of keys,[7] providing a hacksaw which he had secreted after plumbers had left it behind,[8] and getting involved in some of the riskier aspects of the planning and testing of the scheme. Elated, they moved on to door three, which, incredibly, worked with the same key as the inner cell door. 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.. 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. He discovered to his horror that there were ten doors they had to make it through. AM. After that they made it to Mozambique, Angola, and then on to Europe. He was accused of having published, in the Press Newsletter (BIP), the article "Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) 2010", summing up the activities and successes of the BDS campaign during 2010. All Rights Reserved. They were so convinced that they'd soon find a way out that they had money smuggled in to use for taxi fares once they got out. Undeterred, Tim said: From the very first day, we started to collect intelligence about possible escape routes.. Shooting on location in Adelaide, Australia a handsome but none-too-convincing stand-in for the South African highveld in exterior scenes DP Geoffrey Hall keeps the camera moves antsy but not fussy. Eenmaal onder de vleugels van politiek activist Denis Goldberg besluiten ze om, samen. folktandvrden karlskoga flyttar . Success came after many long nights of painstaking effort and risk. So when his key worked, it was momentous. Moumbaris and Jenkin, by a variety of means, travelled overland to Swaziland and went to United Nations High Commission for Refugees, who were sympathetic to their plight and took them to an ANC representative. Speaking from his home in North London, dad-of-two Stephen, now 62, says they had been determined to escape from the moment they arrived at notorious Pretoria Prison. Lee made an escape attempt and nearly succeeded. After months of meticulous surveillance, breath-taking ingenuity, and in a race against time . This time they came up with a plan to leave dummies in their beds, sneak downstairs, hide in a cupboard and wait for the warder to go upstairs. They both found their sociology course disappointing, as the material reinforced the status quo of apartheid. They would contain simple messages, urging people to support the liberation movement. He adds: I have probably different emotions as people. The leaflet bombs were effective in spreading the anti-apartheid message, Stephen says. Moumbaris was charged under the Terrorism Act in January 1973. Stephen and Tim had to open 11 doors in total, some right next to the guards' office. Especially the ending of the film we had to break the final door, we were hoping to pull off the ultimate escape without leaving a trace. [8] He and Lee went on a speaking tour in Sweden in the early 1980s. The last 30-odd years have seen such a wealth of diverse, resonant personal histories emerge from the ashes of apartheid not least that of the actual, not-white Mandela that " Escape from. [4] He had not grown up in a political family, but when in Britain associated with Communists there and he was inspired by the communist resistance to the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II. At night there were dogs in the yard.. It took them a year to get as far as door eleven, the final one. Hirson then communicated with Joe Slovo in Mozambique and a date for the escape was set and an escape vehicle arranged. 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. Alexandre Moumbaris is a political activist and former political prisoner. 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It was dangerous, they did have regular inspections. He successfully distributed leaflets this way on Cape Town's Grand Parade. In fact, things have been kept so by the book, so to speak, the actors used the actual tool Jenkin and Lee as well as third prisoner Alex Moumbaris employed in their daring escape. 2020 PG-13 1h 46m DVD . [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. [21], Commenting on the 2017 French election, Moumbaris named Franois Asselineau as his favourite candidate, but he would vote for Marine Le Pen rather than Emmanuel Macron, purely based on protection of the nation against Macron's "financial fascism", but was still a staunch communist. Timothy Peter Jenkin (born 1948) is a South African writer, former anti-apartheid activist and political prisoner. Stephen and Tim began devising ways to break out as soon as they arrived. 40 years after his mad dash for freedom with his collection of wooden keys and one chisel which was, unbelievably, successful Jenkins story is being told in the feature film, with Daniel Radcliffe playing the lead role. After hundreds of days of looking at the keys, he commits their shape to memory and successfully makes replicas for all nineteen doors that lead to the main gate of the prison. 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. Jenkin hatches a plan to whittle wooden facsimiles of the keys to every door separating them from the outside world an almost naively simple scheme that necessitates a complex network of hiding places and bluffs, as vindictive guards begin to suspect something is afoot. The wooden key didnt work at first. Imposing: Pretoria Prison Speaking from his home in North London, dad-of-two Stephen, now 62, says they had been determined to escape from the moment they arrived at notorious Pretoria. "After that I took a chance and took the parts we needed, including a file, back to my cell in a Thermos flask.. 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. He was visited in prison twice a year by his mother and young son, Boris, from France. The video features excerpts from interviews with Jenkin, Lee, Moumbaris and Goldberg filmed in 2012, in between re-enacted scenes of the prison escape. [6], At the end of 1970 Jenkin enrolled at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and graduated with a Bachelor of Social Science degree at the end of 1973. United Nations High Commission for Refugees, "Press Conference by O. R. Tambo, Introducing Alexandre Moumbaris, Stephen Lee and Timothy Jenkin who Escaped from Prison in South Africa", "Ambassador Molekane receives stalwart of the apartheid struggle Alex Moumbaris at the SA Embassy", "Media Statement by the Chancellor of the National Orders and Director-General in the Presidency, Dr. Cassius Lubisi, at the Union Buildings, Pretoria", "Daniel Radcliffe to Star in Prison-Break Drama 'Escape From Pretoria', "Sam Neill joins Daniel Radcliffe in 'Escape From Pretoria', "Adelaide transformed into apartheid-era Cape Town for Escape From Pretoria filming", "Daniel Radcliffe touches down in Adelaide for new movie", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alex_Moumbaris&oldid=1101678249, All Wikipedia articles written in South African English, Articles containing potentially dated statements from July 2017, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 1 August 2022, at 07:50. 18 months after their conviction escape routes they made it to Mozambique, Angola, and then on to.! 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