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Escape From Pretoria hits Australian streamers
20 May 2020
South Australian filmed prison-break thriller Escape From Pretoria will release in Australia on Premium Video on Demand on Friday, 22 May 2020, Universal Pictures has announced today.
Based on the real-life prison break of two political captives in the tumultuous apartheid days of South Africa, this race-against-time film will be available for Australians to watch for the very first time in premium quality while at home.
Filmed in Adelaide, Escape From Pretoria is an official Australian/UK co-production between Hamilton Entertainment (Hotel Mumbai), BeaglePug (Harry Potter franchise) and Footprint Films (I Am Sami), in association with Arclight Films and with support from the South Australian Film Corporation. It is the first feature length film of Director Francis Annan, an award-winning short filmmaker with an extensive 16-year-career at BBC, which included directing primetime BBC One drama.
The unlikely hero, Tim Jenkin, is played by Daniel Radcliffe, best known for his role in the Harry Potter franchise and more recently in action thrillers such as Jungle and Guns Akimbo. Starring alongside Radcliffe is emerging Australian actor Daniel Webber (The Punisher), with a strong supporting cast including Stephen Hunter (The Hobbit franchise), Ian Hart (Mary Queen of Scots, The Last Kingdom), as well as Aussies Mark Leonard Winter (The Pacific) and Nathan Page (Miss Fishers’ Murder Mysteries, Underbelly).
Escape From Pretoria is the true story of Tim Jenkin (Daniel Radcliffe) and Stephen Lee (Daniel Webber), young, white South Africans branded “terrorists” and imprisoned in 1978 for working covert operations for Nelson Mandela’s banned ANC. Incarcerated in Pretoria Maximum Security Prison, they decide to send the apartheid regime a clear message and escape. With breathtaking ingenuity, meticulous surveillance, and wooden keys crafted for 10 steel doors, they make a bid for freedom.
Beyond a thrilling will-they-won’t-they-escape, this is the story of an oppressed majority’s struggle, and two ordinary men who stood-up to be counted in the pursuit of equality for all.
An extraordinary apartheid-era story, Escape From Pretoria is the gripping and ingenious thriller to see this month, and a must-watch for all fans of action and historical documentaries.
Made for the cinema, Escape From Pretoria is available to rent at home from 22 May, 2020 on Apple TV, Fetch, Google Play, PlayStation Store and Microsoft Store.
Downloads
- Download the Universal Pictures media release (249kb PDF)