The Life of Jo Menell (2022)

Jo Menell’s remarkable life as a wondering, internationally-acclaimed activist filmmaker has touched many of the key causes and figures of the last 60 years. But this amazing storyteller’s best story is that of his own life, told here for the first time, as he finally returns from exile to South Africa, the country of his birth. In essence, Menell is a Zelig-like character – part “insider”, but mainly someone who, over decades of enforced exile, has heroically championed some of the key causes of the last 60 years (from Vietnam to Castro’s Cuba, from Chile to gay rights in San Francisco, from London art world to Nelson Mandela’s anti-apartheid struggle, to contemporary activist internet journalism). Told amusingly and with unfettered access, this is a personal story that throws new light on the history of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.