Cry Freedom

Richard Attenborough's film, set in apartheid-torn South Africa, stars Kevin Kline as journalist Donald Woods and Oscar-winner Denzel Washington as Steve Biko. Woods is editor of the East London Daily Express and Steve Biko is a young black leader struggling to improve life in the townships. The two form an unlikely friendship but when Biko is taken into police custody and then murdered, Woods is placed under house arrest. Fearing for his family's safety, he decides to smuggle them over the border, despite the dangers exposure and capture would bring. Successful despite many close shaves, Woods and his family eventually arrive in England. Woods subsequently wrote two books, including one on Biko's death, that brought the activities of the apartheid regime into the spotlight.