Cry Freedom is based on the true revolutionary incident of Steve Biko, the charismatic South African
Black
Consciousness Movement leader during the late 1970s. Real facts on this incident were taken from the writings of Donald Woods, the liberal white editor of the Daily Dispatch newspaper who later became a part of the incident. He was a friend of Biko and on agreement on the fact that the “blacks” should have the same opportunities and freedoms as white people, even though he was a white man. Biko was arrested for his movement activities and kept in the police custody, where he had been killed. Woods wrote a book entitled “Biko” exposing the police responsibility for his death. The story continues on how Woods escaped from South Africa to publish this book, experiencing the dirty tricks of officials and finally sneak off to England .
This has been based for the feature film “Cry Freedom” by Richard Attenborough in 1987, through Universal Pictures.