There is a wide range of ways in which people have represented apartheid in popular culture. During (1948–1994) and following the
apartheid era in
South Africa, apartheid has been referenced in many books, films, and other forms of art and literature.
Invictus (2009), starring
Matt Damon and
Morgan Freeman and directed by
Clint Eastwood. A film based on Nelson Mandela's role in the
1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa. The story is based on the John Carlin book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation.
Stander (2003), about the South African police officer-turned-bank-robber
André Stander, during the 1970s and 1980s.
Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), starring
Mel Gibson and
Danny Glover, about two detectives investigating a South African diplomat who runs a drug smuggling ring.
Red Dust (2004), starring
Hilary Swank, based on the novel Red Dust by
Gillian Slovo, about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission trials that gave amnesty to those who told the whole truth about atrocities committed during the apartheid era.
Skin (2008), based on the book When She Was White: The True Story of a Family Divided by Race by Judith Stone, about
Sandra Laing, a South African woman born to white parents, who was classified as "
Coloured" during the apartheid era.
District 9 (2009); the title and premise of District 9 were inspired by events that took place in
District Six,
Cape Town, during the apartheid era.
Black Butterflies (2011), named after the poem by
Ingrid Jonker, daughter of
Abraham Jonker. Nelson Mandela used her poem "The Child" in his first speech in the South African Parliament in 1994.