Students revisit historic Mandela trial in documentary screening

The student-led Cinema Club in the Deanship of Student Affairs at Birzeit University organized a screening of the documentary “The State Against Mandela and the Others,” a documentary that explores the Rivonia Trial that led to the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela and 11 others who fought against the apartheid state in South Africa, on Thursday, March 28, 2019. 

The film, centered on the trial that spanned from October 9, 1963, to June 12, 1964, used animation, interviews with the surviving defendants, and remastered trial recordings to bring to life a trial that changed the course of South Africa. 

The Cinema Club, established in 2009, regularly hosts screenings of films chosen by its members. Originally, the club was created to highlight Palestinian movies that were screened only at film festivals, but as its membership increased, choices broadened to include as well a variety of other genres such as action, comedy, and drama.