BILLE AUGUST - GOODBYE BAFANA DIRECTOR PLAYS DOWN INACCURACY CLAIMS

GOODBYE BAFANA DIRECTOR PLAYS DOWN INACCURACY CLAIMS

Director BILLE AUGUST used last night's (11FEB07) Berlin Film Festival premiere of NELSON MANDELA movie GOODBYE BAFANA to play down accusations of inaccuracy. Speaking at the event in the German capital, the moviemaker categorically denied stretching the truth about the former South African leader's relationship with his prison guard while incarcerated on South Africa's notorious Robben Island jail. The film, adapted from prison warden JAMES GREGORY's memoirs, insinuates the prejudiced guard's vehement apartheid views were challenged by Mandela, and the pair became friends - something Mandela has never confirmed. However, August maintains he cut out the book's most controversial claims, insisting any hint of fabrication was "totally avoided in our story". He added, "It's only natural in a country like South Africa there would be a lot of different points of view of reality." Actor JOSEPH FIENNES, who plays Gregory in the movie, said only that he regretted not having met the guard before his 2003 death "because it is hard to know where the truth is".