THE FLAWED GENIUS OF JAN SMUTS : TRAILER
The full documentary of "The
Flawed Genius of
Jan Smuts" is available on AMAZON
VIDEO.
'You incline to put me on a pedestal, which I don't like. I prefer to be what
I am - a poor errant soul forever seeking and seldom finding - a pilgrim of the world and of life
.'.... Jan Smuts.
Who was this
South African Statesman who for more than half a century, played a leading role on
the domestic and international stage as warrior, statesman and counsellor of
Kings?
"He was one of the most enlightened, courageous and noble-minded men of the
20th century...a man
who fought for his country but who thought for the whole world"
Winston Churchill
"Even the great thought he was great"
Alan Paton.
He focused on uniting
Boer and Brit after the
Anglo-Boer War
Was caught up in a global arena between two world wars
...and served as a
Member of the
British War Cabinet in both wars.
Was accused of selling out to the
British by the
Afrikaners
...and neglected the disenfranchised in
South Africa
HE WAS A
MAN OF PARADOXES
A brilliant academic who believed in
Reconciliation
...yet he spent the greater part of his life on the battlefield.
Reconciliation is what he wanted in a less draconian
Peace Treaty with the
Germans.
Reconciliation is central to the
League of Nations, which he founded, and his preamble to the
United Nations Charter, which upholds human rights...
.
...yet, he failed to reconcile with the disenfranchised in South Africa for fear of losing white votes.
"I cared more that he (Smuts) helped the foundation of the League of Nations, promoting freedom
throughout the world, than that he repressed freedom at home".
Nelson Mandela
He was one of the greatest
English orators of the
20th Century...
...and was appointed
Chancellor of Cambridge and
Cape Town universities and rector of
St Andrews in
Scotland.
He was recognised by
Einstein as one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century
He served his country as a freedom fighter in the
Anglo Boer War and twice as
Prime Minister, and put
it on the world map, paving the way for self government...
He is recognised today by two of the world's leading historians as being at the very centre of the vision
for a new world order that emerges from the League of Nations and the
United Nations.
Yet, he is virtually persona non grata in his own country.... and largely ignored in school history books.
PHILIP WEYERS: (Smuts'
Great Grandson): I think it's somewhat sad that a
Canadian teenager will
know more about Jan Smuts, what he achieved in world terms, than a South African adult.
Is Jan Smuts;
....... a forgotten hero?
....... a man worth forgetting?
or .... a tragic figure ... a man with the intellect and vision to create a better world, but impeded from
doing so by the constraints of his own political career and the imperialistic world order within which he
operated?
This one hour drama-documentary, with its dramatized cameo scenes in which his look-alike grandson
takes on the role of Jan Smuts, battle re-enactments, historical archival footage, comments from
historians, political analysts, and South African political struggle heroes, looks back on his life and the
circumstances that shaped it in search of some answers.
Directed by
Sandra Herrington from Tekweni Tv Productions.