25 August 2014<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2018The Greatest Living Englishman\u2019<\/p>\n

These were the words used by Donald Woods to describe Richard Attenborough in the late 1980s. Many will equate Attenborough\u2019s achievements with his visual triumphs on screen, but Donald Woods was referring to his character, drive and steely determination to achieve the seemingly impossible against great odds, which he witnessed first-hand.<\/p>\n

Being brought up during the Second World War amid anti-fascism, a sense of values and morality were strong elements in Attenborough\u2019s formative years. This thread developed throughout his career with masterpieces like \u2018Oh! What a Lovely War\u2019, \u2018The Angry Silence\u2019 and \u2018Gandhi\u2019. Over the years he had received many approaches to make a film about South Africa, but the subject matter involving great leaders or incidents had featured primarily in the 1950s or early 1960s and were dated for western film audiences of the late 1980s.<\/p>\n

One of the key elements Woods was referring to was that for decades, no major film studio would touch the subject of South Africa, believing that a film could not be made without suffering huge financial losses and without connecting to the western public of the late 1980s. While Steve Biko was the basic theme, \u201cthe way into the movie\u201d \u2013 as Attenborough put it \u2013 was the Woods relationship with Biko if mass audiences were to be reached in Europe and the United States.<\/p>\n

Woods\u2019 first impression of Attenborough was that he was \u201csomeone full of fun but thorough about what he took seriously. \u2026 He looked full of energy and was a dynamo of activity. Over the years I was to realise the inadequacy of this description.\u201d<\/p>\n

He travelled and consulted extensively in South Africa, prior to coming to a final decision on the go-ahead to make \u2018Cry Freedom\u2019. He met with and garnered support from many leading figures in the ANC, PAC and Black Consciousness, including Oliver Tambo, Ntsiki Biko and Winnie Mandela. All expressed the view that the main target audience was Europe and North America, as Africa was already convinced of the evil of apartheid, but the West had the power to change it. The other message they offered regarding the project, was to \u201cmake it strong\u201d.<\/p>\n

During this visit to South Africa – initially in secret, but later on with the Security Police in tow \u2013 Attenborough experienced apartheid\u2019s henchmen first-hand when in a rural roadside petrol station toilet break, he was roughed up by two Security Policemen, who threatened that he was not out of their reach.<\/p>\n

All the power in Hollywood at the time was throwing their money behind several films about Vietnam and other ventures with direct American interest. None wanted to touch a film about South Africa, as no major productions had yet been made. Despite this, Attenborough threw himself into the challenge and overcame all the seemingly insurmountable obstacles.<\/p>\n

The greatest achievement in the film was not just the historical subject matter, the powerful music, Denzel Washington\u2019s moving performance, the film\u2019s widespread success, but the mere fact that the film was made, and made well. This one aspect alone surpasses all others in the film\u2019s impact and achievements. It is this drive and determination, combined with energy and warmth that Woods was referring to. Getting a major film production on anti-apartheid spawned several films on South Africa in the subsequent 18 months after release.<\/p>\n

After Woods\u2019 death in 2001, Attenborough went on to work with Wendy Woods, John Duffy and Dillon Woods on a monthly basis for several years to get a nine-foot statue of Nelson Mandela erected in Parliament Square, London \u2013 a project started by Donald eighteen months earlier. Again his energy, character and drive shone through having to overcome several seemingly insurmountable obstacles, but in the end, seeing the unveiling with Prime Minister Gordon Brown with Mandela as honoured guest.<\/p>\n

In addition to the dozens of films, Richard Attenborough was variously chairman of Capital Radio, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, the British Film Institute, Goldcrest Films, the Actors Charitable Trust and Combined Theatrical Charities; a Trustee of the Help a London Child Fund; president of the Muscular Dystrophy Ground of Great Britain; Pro-Vice Chancellor of Sussex University; board member of the Martin Luther King Jr Foundation; deputy chairman of Channel 4; ambassador of the Donald Woods Foundation and chair of the UK Trustees of Waterford Kamhlaba School in Swaziland.<\/p>\n

The staff and Board of Trustees of the Donald Woods Foundation pay tribute to the life of Richard Attenborough.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

25 August 2014   \u2018The Greatest Living Englishman\u2019 These were the words used by Donald […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[113,112],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7DEjh-16z","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4253,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/donald-woods-reburied-at-ancestral-home-in-transkei\/","url_meta":{"origin":4251,"position":0},"title":"Donald Woods reburied at ancestral home in Transkei","date":"September 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Internationally acclaimed anti-apartheid activist and former Daily Dispatch editor Donald Woods has been reburied, alongside his wife Wendy and their infant son Lindsay, at Woods\u2019 ancestral home in Hobeni in the former Transkei. Woods, whose perilous friendship with Steve Biko was the subject of Sir Richard Attenborough\u2019s Oscar-nominated film Cry\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Citizenship and active democracy"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4247,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/donald-woods-archive-established-at-hobeni\/","url_meta":{"origin":4251,"position":1},"title":"Donald Woods archive established at Hobeni","date":"July 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"26 July 2014 A comprehensive new archive of Donald Woods\u2019 life and momentous career is being established at the new Donald Woods Centre at Hobeni in the former Transkei. Meticulously curated by leading anti-apartheid activist David Kenvyn, the Donald Woods Foundation Library and Archive is the most detailed record yet\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Donald Woods Centre"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4310,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/building-the-donald-woods-centre-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":4251,"position":2},"title":"Building the Donald Woods Centre","date":"February 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Donald Wood Centre at Hobeni has been featured in an article in the Financial Times, London. Headlined Donald Woods Centre built in memory of South African activist, the article by Lily Le Brun relates how the\u00a0family of the famous anti-apartheid campaigner have established the headquarters of the Donald Woods\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Citizenship and active democracy"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/WP_20160201_10_29_51_Pro-e1460617539599.jpg?fit=1030%2C685&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4300,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/meet-the-dwf-livestock-team\/","url_meta":{"origin":4251,"position":3},"title":"Meet the DWF livestock team","date":"November 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"19 November 2015 Ralph Spence is a farmer at heart and like all members of that \u201cbreed\u201d, he\u2019s never happier than when he\u2019s out and about talking to and assisting local livestock holders in the Mbashe area. Ralph Spence is a farmer at heart and like all members of that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Citizenship and active democracy"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4245,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/new-dwf-head-office-at-donald-woods-birthplace\/","url_meta":{"origin":4251,"position":4},"title":"New DWF head office at Donald Wood’s birthplace","date":"May 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"23 May 2014 The Donald Woods Foundation has officially opened its new head office at Hobeni, in the deeply rural area of the Mbashe Local Municipality, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The old Hobeni trading store was where Donald Woods was born on 15 December 1933. The opening was attended by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Citizenship and active democracy"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2406,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/exercise-is-medicine\/","url_meta":{"origin":4251,"position":5},"title":"Exercise is medicine","date":"January 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Lilly researcher and Connecting Hearts Abroad 2015 ambassador Randall Dick writes about his experience bringing the message that exercise\u00a0IS\u00a0medicine during his stay with the Donald Woods Foundation at Hobeni. Randall was one of a group of 10 Lilly volunteers who spent two weeks at Hobeni at the Donald Woods Centre\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Donald Woods Centre"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/exercise-girl.jpg?fit=800%2C534&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4251"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4251\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}