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Francis Annan makes his feature film directorial debut with the fantastic Escape From Pretoria. The film charts the unbelievable true story of two political prisoners during the Apartheid in South Africa. These brave men join forces with another inmate to hatch a daring escape from the prison.
Starring none other than Daniel Radcliffe, the film is an excellent thriller with some absolutely nail-biting moments of tension. We were fortunate enough to chat to Annan about getting the script to the big screen, casting, meeting the real-life escapees, and a potentially Marvel-ous future.
Can you tell us a little bit about the process of getting this story to the big screen?
I met the initial producers back in 2012. I told them that I loved political thrillers and they said ‘read this book, ‘Escape from Pretoria prison’. We’re trying to get the rights back’. I read the book cover to cover and absolutely loved it. They got the rights back about a year later, and then we spent a long time on the scriptwriting, financing, and casting. Dan [Radcliffe] came on board in 2016 and we started shooting in 2019.
Were you aware of the story beforehand?
Nope! I didn’t know the story at all. It’s like with WWII where you hear all these crazy things about how people survived and what they went through. It’s the same with the Apartheid, and there are so many amazing stories of ingenuity and survival that haven’t been told. So, this was our attempt at telling one of these narratives.
At what point in the process did you meet the real Tim Jenkin and Stephen Lee?
As soon as we got the rights. I met Tim and Stephen in London in 2013, and we chatted for a couple of hours. Then in 2015, I met them again to speak a little bit more. In 2017 I actually went to Tims house in South Africa, and they drove us around all the locations they were arrested. We also saw the real car park where they set off the leaflet bomb too. So, we met with them every couple of years, and they also visited the set in 2019. Tim and Stephen would make 25 to 30 page PDF’s for me, detailing how they escaped and how each door was opened. It was a great frame of reference!
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Did the script go through a lot of different iterations?
Yeah, it did. The original script had a lot more cool espionage spy stuff from before they got arrested. I loved that stuff, but it was about 30 pages before they enter the prison, and we were told that it had to go due to budget concerns. They had to be in the prison in the first 15 minutes.
Originally, we had a much more long, cool version of how Tim breaks out and figures out the shape of the keys. Then the real Tim was like ‘hmmm I don’t know about that’ [laughs] he literally just looked at the keys! He spent three months looking at them, and then drawing, and then looking again, and then changing it.
I wish I could have adopted more of the espionage stuff. But, I loved the fact that this film had a bit of everything. It was a spy film, that then became this prison film. We did manage to maintain a bit of other stuff, like with the court hearing at the beginning. But, the producers thought that audiences are paying for a prison break movie, so we needed to get to the prison as quickly as possible.
Related: Escape From Pretoria
One of the film’s most tense scenes comes when Tim is caught with part of his wooden key and successfully passes it off as a photo holder. Did this actually happen?
No, it didn’t. What actually happened was the captain did an inspection and found some photos of Karl Marx. Karl Marx was a left-wing communist so he was banned at the time in South Africa. But, the captain didn’t know what Karl Marx looked like so he let him off. So, I loved that and sort of adapted it with the photo holder scene.
The end of the film revealed that Tim never saw his girlfriend again after his escape. Did you ever ask him about why that was?
Well, because they were fugitives from 1979 to 1991, he wasn’t allowed in the country. Not long after he was pardoned he went back and asked some friends about what she was up to. She’d left the country a couple of times before coming back, but unfortunately, she passed away before Tim was able to see her.
Did you actually visit the prison itself?
Yeah, me and one of the producers actually went to Pretoria. We were allowed in the prison and everything. It was a bit crazy though because the big gate, that secures the whole compound, was open when we visited. There was nobody manning the entrance, so we went in and had a walk around. Then after about 15 minutes, the gate started closing! So we ran out before we got locked in [laughs].
With the film being so serious in tone and subject matter, what was the atmosphere like on set?
It wasn’t exactly full of laughs on set, but there was some good banter. Because the schedule was so tight, and there was so much to do in such a short space of time, there was this great comradery. The absurdity of how much we had to do, and how much time we had to do it bonded us. There was a sort of fun in everybody realising how crazy our schedule was. Dan [Radcliffe] would come on set and be literally running around. We all sort of loved the high octane energy of it all. The scene where Dan drops the key outside the cell was very tense, as we only had 45 minutes to shoot that. I probably should have had two or three hours to shoot that. But, I really think the franticness was reflected in the final scene.
The film was shot in Australia. Were there ever discussions about shooting it in South Africa itself?
Yeah, up until August the plan was to film in Cape Town. Then for whatever reason, the money wasn’t really forthcoming. We couldn’t afford to change the dates again and had to start pre-production in January. Dan wasn’t available again after that until October 2020, so we had to find a new location quickly.
Australia wasn’t my initial intention. I was actually quite against it initially. But, it was either that or the film didn’t get made.
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Tell me a little bit about the casting process, and Daniel Radcliffe’s boarding of the project.
Dan came on board in August or September 2016. His agent read the script and loved it, then about two weeks later he had seen it and wanted to meet. I knew that if he liked the script he would go for it because he picks very interesting projects. He doesn’t go for safe bets. Whether he’s on stage, or in a film, he makes choices that will push him as a performer. I knew that he would be looking for something with a bit of edge. The producers weren’t sure he would do it, but I was just like ‘Nah, I think he will’.
You obviously want a big actor, and you want someone who will do it and enjoy it. Not just a big name, but someone who will get it and embrace it. There was a lot of close up’s and a lot of technical stuff. It was quite a grueling shoot, so I didn’t want someone who would turn up and be a diva. 5 or 6 days into the shoot and they’ve turned the whole thing into a really sour and bitter experience. I didn’t want that. I’d heard good stories about Dan and I wanted him. I didn’t think he would just fob us off.
Mark Leonard Winter’s character wasn’t based on a real person. Was he an amalgamation of multiple real people? Or entirely fictional?
He was a mix of different people from the prison. He was a very important character, but he’s ultimately fictional. There’s a lot of interesting crossovers between him and people that were actually in the prison though. For me, that character helped to illustrate that there were international people in that prison. People from all walks of life were tangled up in this mess that was the Apartheid, and there’s just this French guy sat there languishing away.
He also brought a slightly more comedic energy to the film. I don’t think it would have worked if they were all the same type of character. The way they dress, the way they speak, and the way they approach situations were all completely different. He brought a different facet to the story.
What does the future hold for you now in Hollywood?
I’ve now got an American agent at ICM, and I’ve also signed with Daniel Radcliffe’s agent in the UK. They’re looking at scripts, and I’ve also got a few scripts of my own. Something set on the South American/Texan border that involves a small town having to deal with a potential onslaught of crime from the south. I’m also working on something to do with the 1958 Notting Hill riots, which started because of an interracial married couple. I’ve read about 4 or 5 interesting scripts, and I’m off to LA next month to try and work something out.
Are there any existing Hollywood properties you would like to be involved in?
Annan: Well, what Christopher Nolan did was very interesting. He took a genre piece but gave it this brooding, noir-esque feel. It would be great to do that with something like Blade, or any of the upcoming Marvel stuff. If Marvel call, I’ll come running.
Escape from Pretoria is now playing.
