Winnie Mandela movie opens on Friday

ACADEMY Award winner Jennifer Hudson and Academy Award nominee Terrence Howard star in Winnie Mandela, the untold love story of Winnie and Nelson Mandela.

The movie is scheduled for release in South Africa on Friday, March 7, exclusively at selected Ster-Kinekor Theatres.

The movie reveals Winnie Mandela’s remarkable journey amidst the turbulent decades of her husband Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment. Despite her own incarceration and torture, Winnie’s fierce courage in the face of personal and political turmoil shows her unfaltering commitment to her husband’s dream of equality for their people.

Winnie Mandela is an epic, often heart-wrenching voyage toward understanding one of the world’s most remarkable and enigmatic women.

“I was compelled and moved by the script. Winnie Mandela is a complex and extraordinary woman and I’m honoured to be the actress asked to portray her. This is a powerful part of history that should be told,” said Jennifer Hudson.

directed by South African director Darrell Roodt (Cry, The Beloved Country; Sarafina!; Yesterday), the screenplay for Winnie Mandela was co-written by Roodt and André Pieterse, based on the book, Winnie Mandela: A Life, by Anné Mariè du Preez Bezdrob, a former journalist.

“The story offers a perspective on the South African narrative. Most importantly, I want to focus on the beautiful and tragic love story of Nelson and Winnie, which was crushed by what history did to them. It is tragic that a woman who dedicated most of her adult life to him, ended up divorcing him. As a director, I am humbled to have artists such as Jennifer Hudson and Terrence Howard to work with,” said director Darrell Roodt, an Academy Award nominated filmmaker.

The movie was filmed over 13 weeks on location in Johannesburg, Cape Town, the Transkei (Winnie’s place of birth) and Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in incarceration, before he became South Africa’s first black president.

On February 25 Mrs Madikizela-Mandela released a media statement via her website, in which she disassociated herself from the movie:

“In my life’s struggle I have seen and heard many things said about me. I understand that my story, alongside that of my people ,is one that will continue to be told for many generations.

“In an attempt to ensure that my truth was reflected, I reached out to the filmmakers – my advances were rejected. I imagine the basis was to allow the creative process to occur organically – a concept I try to understand. I respect all creative efforts to make this story one that would appeal to a global audience as well as yield commercial gains for all those who invested in it.

“In principle, I have no ‘problem’ with the Winnie Mandela film while it remains important to me that my life story be portrayed accurately. I appreciate that this would require the utmost integrity of the storytellers but, my story is mine and no one knows it better.

“I also reject media reports that suggest that I have a problem with the international talent cast on this film.”