US filmmaker Sam Pollard first made a name for himself as a close collaborator, editor and co-producer of Spike Lee’s, and among his 75 producing credits are such recent documentary hits as Natchez and The Perfect Neighbor. As a director, his work has almost always focused on topics related to the African-American experience and human rights championed by big political and cultural figures, like in MLK/FBI, Citizen Ashe and South to Black Power. Now, he has arrived in the Berlinale’s Special section with the world premiere of TUTU, a deeply emotional and richly textured portrait of South Africa’s key anti-apartheid activist, who was also a bishop, a theologian and a Nobel Prize winner.

Pollard’s film comes at a moment in history that ushers us to step back and take a closer and more nuanced look at Archbishop Desmond Tutu, one of the most significant figures in the struggle for the rights of black people. A classic biographical documentary in form, consisting of archive footage and interviews, it is a vibrant, engaging and, at times, powerful piece of cinema.

Instead of taking a chronological approach, Pollard weaves a story that shows us the man behind the name. A lot of the footage has never been seen before, and it comes from writer-producer Roger Friedman and journalist Benny Gool. In 1996, they were assigned to cover the work of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, chaired by Tutu, and in 2000, they were granted full access to him and his family for the production of a TV documentary that never materialised.

Friedman is also one of the most articulate interviewees in the film, and his relationship with Tutu and his wife Leah also gives us a glimpse into the couple’s dynamics. The documentary travels back and forth in time and space, from Tutu’s childhood in a poor township, through his days at King’s College London in the 1960s, when he first encountered a society where he felt perceived as a human being, to his return to South Africa, where he became the first black bishop of the Anglican Church in Johannesburg and, later, the first black archbishop in Cape Town.

The story wouldn’t be complete without segments on Steve Biko and Nelson Mandela. The former’s activism and brutal death while in police custody informed Tutu’s own work, while with the latter, he shared views and battles. The film includes testimonies from several of Tutu’s key collaborators and contemporaries, shifting the perspective between the personal and the political. One part that is particularly resonant today is the archbishop’s influence over the US Senate and Congress that made them override Reagan’s veto on economic sanctions against South Africa’s government. In a skilful and pointed way, Pollard minimises the presence of apartheid figures and gives an uncompromising view of Frederik Willem de Klerk, who released Mandela and began negotiations to end apartheid in 1990. But he also doesn’t shy away from disturbing images of violence within South Africa’s black community.

The footage that really brings out the vibrant, animated and lively private persona of Tutu comes from a celebration of his birthday in Soweto in 2001, while the segments of his speeches and interviews complete the picture of a headstrong and empathetic man who was a UN envoy to Israel and Palestine – and Pollard’s decision to include this in the masterful montage that ends the film is certainly not coincidental.

TUTU is a co-production by Universal Pictures Content Group and the UK’s HLP Studios, and Cinetic Media has the international rights.