HEARTS AND MINDS South Africa

South Africa in the late l 980’s is a country
divided, wracked by anti-communist para·
noia and sliding headlong towards civil
war. Against this background, we find
Andries Fourie, ‘an officer in the South
African Police, a man devastated by guilt
and at the edge of his sanity. Fourie is a
member of the infamous apartheid death
squads, a covert police organization originated
to “permanently remove from society”
anyone that the Government deems
undesirable. After a botched mission,
Fourie is sent under cover, to infiltrate the
ANC, and to murder one of its military
leaders. Fourie manages to tentatively gain
the trust of the ANC. He leaves the familiarity
of Calvinist white South Africa, and
journeys into communist third world Africa.
Fourie is affected by what he encounters,
and confused by the clash of ideology.
Ironically, by the time Fourie is in a position
to carry out his original assignment, the
war is over, and Nelson Mandela has
been released. -Production notes