South Africa / 2007 / 83mins / Documentary / English, Afrikaans, Spanish and Portuguese

Brothers in Arms is a biopic of the life of Ronald Herboldt, the only South African, and as Herbolt attests, the only African to participate in the Cuban Revolution. This incredible story shows how Ronald found himself in Cuba in 1958 and joined Fidel Castro's Rebel Army. In 1975 and again in 1987-88 Angola asked for Cuban help to repulse the South African invasion, Ronald was among the first to volunteer, fulfilling his wish to directly participate in the movement against apartheid. Finally able to return home for good in 1998, Ronald was reunited with his South African family. Brothers in Arms follows his reunion with his family while revealing the story of his vibrant life in Cuba. The film is an extraordinary tale of Pan-Africanism as it lives well beyond the borders of Africa.

Jack Lewis

Jack Lewis is a Cape Town-based producer and director. His documentaries, made by his production company Idol Pictures, have been broadcast locally and shown at numerous international film festivals. He has made several films on HIV/AIDS, including Beat It! Your Guide to Better Living with HIV/AIDS (produced and directed, 22 parts x 25 mins each, 1999/2000 for eTV). Die Duiwel Maak My Hart So Seer: Children Speak (1993, 55 min. for SABC 3. Dir. Zackie Achmat, Prod. Jack Lewis) won first prize at the International Forum for Child Welfare in the Programmes for Public Screening category and an award for direction at the NTVA awards. Jack Lewis’ work has covered sexuality and gender issues, youth education, housing, programmes on land grants for the Department of Land Affairs, and language programmes for The National Language Project. He completed his first feature film, Proteus, with John Grayson in 2002. His other works include Sando to Samantha, AKA the Art of Dikvel (1998), A Luta Continua (The Struggle Continues – 2001), Brothers in Arms (2007) and TAC, Taking HAART (2011). Learn More