Film: The story of Hamilton Naki and Christiaan Barnard

Abstract

The unprecedented media coverage of this event transformed Barnard into an international celebrity, while apartheid politicians exploited this moment of medical history to publicise the then isolated apartheid state. According to interviews with Naki and Barnard in Hidden Heart, Naki was present in theatre during heart and liver transplantations, which was illegal at that time because he was black-a claim that has been disputed by others.