For Gerrit Wolfaardt, the National Party-supporting youth of the 1970’s "free and fair" were concepts taken literally and could happen only "once the entire black population was shoved into a township and blown to smithereens".

Reading Cry The Beloved Country in 1969 resulted in the beginning of a process of change for Wolfaardt.

Today he’s a "freedom fighter" in his own right and flew in from Colorado Springs to engage with cast and crew in the feature also starring John Kani, Marius Weyers, Vusi Kunene, Liezel van der Merwe, as well as American actors Gino Mingo, Lakita Garth and Bruce Marchiano.

Based on the stories of reconciliation and healing of Wolfaardt and Gauteng’s Moses Moremi, the film is written and directed by Cristobal Krusen and produced by Gary Wheeler.

In the story, the leader of a para-military group, Jan Hofmeyr, (David Lee) seeks refuge in an integrated township church. While the minister, Peter Lekota (Kani) asks the crowd to hand him over to the police rather than mete out their own justice, a man called Wolfaardt (Ellis) bursts out telling them he is the one they are seeking.

He begins to confess his past racism and changed demeanor. But his life is in danger when one Moses Moremi (Mpho Lovinga) doesn’t seem to buy his story.

Director Cristobal "bought" the story when he visited the changed Wolfaardt here in the early 1990s.

Wolfaardt, who spent years visiting churches and apologising for his sin of hatred of black people, now works for Development Associates International in the US and is involved in a leadership development programme, based on biblical principles, in Africa and India.

Said Wolfaardt of his story: "The racism, hatred, misconception, the lies we were fed in the Dutch Reformed Church as little kids, that whites were the chosen race, were believed by Afrikaners like myself.

"The movie shows the change of heart; a spiritual one, not a superficial one."

He said he had been a radical Pretoria Afrikaans Law student and led the NP youth wing.

He worked with the like of former law and order minister Adriaan Vlok in the 1970s. His solution for the country was to shove the black community into the townships.

"Paton’s novel (Cry the Beloved Country) had a profound effect on me. For the first time I saw black people not as animals. They had feelings and the same struggles we had," he said.

Wolfaardt said he wasn’t about to deny his cultural background "yet" and initiated groups like Datum 80 to begin dialogue with black people.

His change became quite apparent to his family, though, when in 1978 he refused to name his first born Pieter Jacobus after his grand-father who was executed by a British firing squad.

"It was up to me to carry the family name forward. I named my son Thabo Pieter Jaco. In my own simple way I began to prepare my family and children for change."

"I didn’t do it to be fashionable or to hurt anyone."

In the 1980s and 1990s, Wolfaardt defended scores of black people involved in acts of public violence, sedition and other acts.

"I found out first hand that police brutality was not just sensationalist nonsense dished out by the left-wing press. It happened, regularly. I saw it with my own eyes."

But Wolfaardt says: " I never say I was part of the struggle. I did my bit. My wife Celeste (she is played by local actress Liezel van der Merwe in the movie) taught at a so-called Coloured school in Hout Bay. We had kids, both black and white, at our home regularly. We didn’t make a thing of it.

"We wanted to live in the real world and wanted our kids to grow up as normal as possible. Here again I spent much time with the community, acting as an intermediary between the police and parents when our kids from the school were imprisoned without trial during uprisings."

Says Ellis: "I see my role as interpreting this character to the best of my ability for the screen. Spending time with the director, as well as Mr Wolfaardt, has assisted me in internalising the character.

"Any young, white, Afrikaner male, like myself, can relate to the process that happen to the character.

"I was brought up quite liberally but there are all sorts of prejudices and misconceptions that people are raised with out there.

"What the media has opened up over the past few years has come as a shock to all of us. I can relate to the character, the myths he was fed as a child and the transition in his life. To believe so strongly and then to make a radical change is quite brave."

The film opens later this year.