‘Plot for Peace’ A Documentary Based On Nelson Mandela and Jean-Yves Olliver

Stephen Sloane

The African National Congress Party’s most famous son Nelson Mandela, affectionately named “Madiba“ by devoted followers, led both peaceful and sometimes armed protests against the oppressive white apartheid regime in South Africa. For his troubles, he was imprisoned for 27 years, the first 18 of which he spent in a small cell lacking both bedding and plumbing, at Robben Island Prison, a former leper colony. Here he performed hard labor in a lime quarry. Both prior to and after his release in 1990, he was seen as the national and international voice of resistance against apartheid. He became the first black president in South Africa, forming a multi-ethnic government with the view to transition his country away from racial rule and intolerance.

The documentary “Plot for Peace” tells the story of the fight and political persuasions that occurred behind the scenes, which insured both apartheid’s fall and Mandela’s release. The film’s core focuses on a Frenchman who played a major hand in these changes, an unlikely and little-known character in the public eye named Jean-Yves Ollivier, known to some as “Monsieur Jacques.”

Ollivier had spent the ‘80’s and ‘90s creating a network of contacts, whilst acting as an international commodities trader. He was known to be charming, knew how to close a deal, and acted as a liaison between various leaders that European politicians preferred not to associate with directly. Perhaps his greatest asset was that of getting dignitaries and those in power to come to the table and talk through their disputes. He became a secret envoy to France, then also to South Africa. The documentary fleshes out the levels to which Ollivier had a hand in Mandela’s eventual release. However, it’s a little ambivalent as to his reasons for engaging in apartheid’s demise, be it for financial reward or for the good of South Africa and Mandela himself.

Co-director Carlos Agulló comes mostly from an editing background, whereas other co-director Mandy Jacobson is well-versed as both a documentary director and a producer. Perhaps a little light is shed on Ollivier’s reasons for securing a better tomorrow for South Africa and its people. He once stated, “In 1981 arriving in South Africa felt like visiting another planet. I wondered how the whites did not realize that, unless they changed and accepted to share the country, they were headed for disaster.”

‘Plot for Peace’ comes out Oct. 31.