CAUX, Switzerland, 2013 - Beyond Forgiving Executive Producer Howard Grace, who lived in South Africa for three years during the 1970s, presented the film at the Learning to Live in a Multicultural World conference in August. Howard talked about the background and inspiration in making the film. 'For me it was a real privilege to be involved as it is such a precious story of hope emerging from that distressing time in history, which I had been involved in', he said.
'The seed for Beyond Forgiving began after the director and I met Ginn Fourie and Letlapa Mphahlele at a conference eight years ago. Inspired by their story, I invited Letlapa to discuss his experiences with sixth form students in the UK.'
Observing the emotional response from the young people, Howard and the film's director, Imad Karam, decided to document the inspirational story of trauma and hope experienced by the two South African people – a black atheist man and a white Christian woman.
The crew spent two weeks filming in South Africa, including interviews with Ginn and Letlapa, now a South African MP, with post production taking place at the Initiatives of Change studios in London.
Howard reflects: 'It was a moving experience to go into parliament with [Letlapa] to film, when the last time I was in South Africa 34 years ago it was an all white government.'
He adds: 'This is not a film just about South Africa. It challenges all of us to think deeply about our relationships on all levels and about what is important in life.'
English