Vanessa McMahon

"Playing with cards is like life itself. You don't play with the cards you wish you had, but with the hand you're dealt." Jean-Yves Ollivier (October 8, 1944).

The film PLOT FOR PEACE (2013) tells the story of Algerian born Jean-Yves Ollivier and his work as a French unofficial diplomat between Europe and Africa in the 1980’s. He has worked as a well-connected businessman for underdeveloped growing markets for over 40 years and was a personal advisor to Jacques Chirac. Throughout his career, Ollivier was involved with many international negotiations, including a mediation in Comoros Islands between French military and the Comoros nationals, organized SA president Frederik de Klerk’s visit to France, negotiations between Sun City in South Africa and the Congo and helping Nelson Mandela in his fight to end Apartheid in South Africa.

While Nelson Mandela was on his way to becoming the new South Africa’s first president and the courageous soldier P.W. Botha was warring against apartheid, Ollivier was secretly and unofficially traveling throughout the African continent seeking to bridge the abyss between warring African nations in an ongoing and seemingly relentless pursuit of peace. Awarded with the highest honors by Mandela and Botha, as a representative for peace, Ollivier spent the majority of his career in the plot for peace in Africa.

In 1987, Jean-Yves Ollivier was awarded the ‘Order of Good Hope’ by Foreign minister Roelof “Pik” Botha and in 1995, he was made Grand Officer of the Order of Good Hope by Nelson Mandela for helping in the fight against Apartheid. Ollivier is the only French non-politician to have received such accolades. Ollivier was given the title “Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur” and “Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite” in France, “Commandeur de l’Ordre de Mérite Congolais” in Congo Brazzaville and “Grand Officier de l ‘Étoile d’Anjouan” in Comoros. 

Directed by Carlos Agulló, this documentary is a poetic telling of one man's quest inside the brutal pan-African civil war. While it is based on the life of one man’s work, the film presents a fresh perspective on a universally crucial situation. PLOT FOR PEACE played at the 25th Palm Springs International Film Festival in the ‘True Stories’ section.

-Written by Vanessa McMahon

Plot for Peace
South Africa, 2013, 84 Minute Running Time 
Topics: Documentary, Political 
Program: True Stories
Language: English English Sub-Titles Winner: Jury and Audience Awards, Galway, São Paolo, and Hamptons Film Festivals 



DIRECTOR: Carlos Agulló 
Producer: Mandy Jacobson
Editor: Carlos Agulló
Screenwriter: Stephen Smith
Cinematographer: Rita Noriega, Diego Ollivier
Music: Antony Partos
Principal Cast: Jean-Yves Ollivier, Thabo Mbeki, Pik Botha, Winnie Mandela, Chester Crocker
Filmography: Debut Feature
Print Source: Wide House

Official website: http://www.plotforpeace.com/

View trailer here: