[Colleen Mcedwards, Cnn Anchor:] When apartheid finally collapsed in South Africa, the people who suffered under those rules sought justice. Four stories of reconciliation are told in the documentary film "Long Night's Journey Into Day," which will air on HBO this coming Monday evening. Filmmakers Frances Reid and Deborah Hoffman come to us this morning from Washington. Thanks so much for being here. Your film won a documentary award at Sundance, correct, nominated for an Oscar as well. Congratulations.
[Frances Reid, "long Night's Journey Into Day":] Thank you.
[Deborah Hoffman, "long Night's Journey Into Day":] Thank you.
[Mcedwards:] I think most people will remember the story of American Amy Biehl, who is one of the people you feature in the documentary. Deborah, can you tell us what about her story was so compelling?
[Hoffman:] Well, oddly enough, you would think what was compelling for us as Americans was the fact that she was American, but what really was so compelling that her parents took this extraordinary, generous stand of supporting amnesty for the killers of her of their daughter. And the mother of the killer of the daughter took this extraordinary, generous stand of deep compassion towards the parents. And in fact, the parents have of both the killer and Amy met and to this day are still in contact. We were very moved by that.
[Mcedwards:] I think of lot of people found that almost incomprehensible and instructive. And if you guys would just hold on for one moment, I'd like our viewers to get a little bit of a feel for the film, and we've actually got a segment of it we can run now of Amy's father, Peter.
[Peter Biehl, Father Of Amy Biehl:] Racism in South Africa has a painful experience for blacks and whites, and reconciliation may be equally painful. However, the most important vehicle toward reconciliation is open and honest dialogue.
[Mcedwards:] Frances, how important was it for him to go before the truth and reconciliation commission and have that moment?
[Reid:] Well, I think it was extraordinary, especially for South Africans, to understand that there was this American whose daughter had been killed there who felt that was important was to talk about reconciliation. And that little piece that you just saw, actually, he was reading from a letter that Amy had written to the "Cape Times" about three months before killed. And I think for both Peter and Linda Biehl, representing their daughter and who she was in South Africa was very important to them.
[Mcedwards:] Deborah, the truth and reconciliation commission was supposed to be sort of symbolic of new start for South Africa. As you followed it, do you think it achieved that?
[Hoffman:] Well, absolutely. I mean, it can't completely achieve it. There's no way that something that goes on for just a few years can wipe out decades of something incredibly evil, which is what apartheid was. So, the legacy of apartheid, of course, still continues. But what it did achieve was that it got a tremendous amount of truth out so the entire nation now knows what happened. And also, the victims were given a voice. They were allowed to come forward and tell their story. So, it's an incredible first step. It's only a first step, but it's a more profound and, I think, successful, first step than I've seen anywhere elsewhere where a country s trying to deal with brutal history.
[Mcedwards:] And Frances, on the film, how have you found people who have seen the film, how have they reacted to you on a very personal level to what they see?
[Reid:] Well, we've had a lot of people come to us after screenings where we've be there in person and they say, first of all, they had no idea about what was really happening in South Africa. But also, they relate to the film on a personal level, and they will come and say things to us like, I need to talk to my brother about, you know, something that happened five years ago, and we really need to reconcile over that. I need to start to approach things in a different way that has to do with understanding the truth can hopefully leave to reconciliation. And we've been our people will say to us the next day, we were my husband and I were up all night last night talking about this film, and that's been gratifying to us because in making it, we really wanted there to be a response that was universal, that went beyond needing to know about what happened in South Africa, but also what's happening in our own hearts.
[Mcedwards:] All right, Frances Reid, Deborah Hoffman, we have to leave it there. Thank you both very much and congratulations on the film.
[Hoffman:] Thank you very much.
[Reid:] Thank you very much.
[Mcedwards:] All right, "Long Night's Journey Into Day." TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com