In this epic film based on real-life events, Pete Travis (OMAGH) drops us into South Africa in the late 1980s. The African National Congress wages an armed struggle against apartheid and President P.W. Botha clings to the last threads of power. It turns out that Consolidated Goldfields, a British mining company, has initiated covert, unofficial talks between the opposing sides. ENDGAME chronicles this high-stakes mission, where Michael Young (Jonny Lee Miller), Consolidated’s head of public affairs, doggedly assembles a reluctant yet impressive team of negotiators at a manor house in rural England. The stakes are immense, the secrecy total. ANC leader Thabo Mbeki (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Afrikaner philosophy professor Willie Esterhuyse (William Hurt) are chief among the negotiators. Zeroing in on the growing empathy between Mbeki and Esterhuyse, we see how against all odds, through volatile discussion, setbacks and breakthroughs, the secret talks achieve the unimaginable—a precious arena of frail trust between the two opposing parties. A powerfully relevant tale for troubled times, ENDGAME recounts a story from the past that may well show us the way forward for the future. *Official selection, Sundance Film Festival 2009
ENDGAME, courtesy of Channel 4 Television, will be broadcast in April 2009

Show your support for Human Rights Watch by attending the Benefit Gala screening of ENDGAME and joining us at the reception afterwards. For Benefit Gala tickets, donations or more information, please contact Simona Santojanni on 020 7713 2773 or email simona.santojanni@hrw.org. Tickets start at £75.