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A nation teeters on the brink of civil war in this real-life political thriller about the negotiations that led to the end of apartheid in South Africa.

Seemingly doomed to failure, the secret talks were held against a backdrop of terrorism, spying, blackmail and escalating unrest. In the mid 1980s, no nation's future looked as hopeless as South Africa's. Diehard supporters of the apartheid regime were pitted against a black national liberation movement that was edging toward all-out armed rebellion. But, on the brink of catastrophe, a miracle occurred. Thanks to an improbable mediator, a series of risky and secret talks began.

Masterpiece Contemporary: "End Game," an official selection of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, premieres Sunday, October 25, at 8 p.m. on KUED-Channel 7.

The film's international cast includes Best Actor Oscar-winner and Emmy-nominee William Hurt (Kiss of the Spider Woman, Damages) as Professor Will Esterhuyse, leader of an unofficial delegation representing white South Africa, and Chiwetel Ejiofor (American Gangster, Kinky Boots) as Thabo Mbeki, who heads a group of exiles from the African National Congress (ANC). Mbeki went on to become the second democratically elected president of South Africa, succeeding Nelson Mandela.

Jonny Lee Miller (Trainspotting) stars as Michael Young, the businessman and negotiator who brings these bitter antagonists together. Although the firm for which he works has long benefited from apartheid, Young argues that economic and political chaos will result if the racist system is not dismantled as soon as possible. Derek Jacobi ("The Old Curiosity Shop," "Gosford Park") plays his boss, the chairman of Consolidated Goldfields, who agrees to fund Young's quixotic mission. Clarke Peters stars as Nelson Mandela.

It's a high-stakes chess match, with canny moves and countermoves in pursuit of victory in the suspenseful endgame to apartheid. The screenplay, by Paula Milne, is based on the book "The Fall of Apartheid" by Robert Harvey.

Local funding for Masterpiece is provided by Cultural Vision Fund, Marie Eccles Caine Foundation-Russell Family and the Salt Lake Film Society.

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