Plot For Peace

A complex documentary about secret negotiations in apartheid-era South Africa, directors Carlos Agullo and Mandy Jacobson focus not on big name players such as Nelson Mandela, the ANC or FW de Klerk. Instead the subject is “mysterious Frenchman” Jean-Yves Ollivier. The commodities trader was born in Algeria and experienced that country’s civil war as a teenager. Perfectly placed to understand the unsustainability of an isolated country turning on itself, Ollivier machinated a series of shrewd political manoeuvres in order to hasten the dismantling of apartheid, including prisoner swaps and the eventual removal of South African and Cuban troops from Angola.

It’s a fascinating story, not least because of Ollivier’s lack of official standing, and the understandable suspicion that surrounded this bizarrely influential figure. Ollivier is interviewed as are a dizzying array of talking heads, from Winnie Mandela to former South African president Thabo Mbeki, to American diplomat Chester Crocker.

However, the movie fails to grapple with the nuances of South African politics through the ’80s. A rare complaint for a documentary, Plot For Peace proves too short to fully encompass the complexities of the situation. The overall effect is one of understanding that Ollivier had influence, but not exactly how or why.

In cinemas March 13.)