SOUTH AFRICA - Cinema

Mandela : Long Walk to Freedom

This is a British-South African biographical film directed by Justin Chadwick , released in 2013. This is the adaptation of the autobiography A Long Walk to Freedom (1994) written by Nelson Mandela, recounting his childhood, his political career, anti- apartheid struggles and years of prison.

It was presented at the International Film Festival in Toronto in 2013 and released on November 28, 2013 in South Africa a few days before the death of Nelson Mandela, on December 5, 2013

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Shooting

Lol Crawley, director of photography, began filming in May 2012 in South Africa, specifically in KwaZulu-Natal. The shooting took place during sixteen weeks in Cape Town, the provincial capital of the Western Cape, Johannesburg, Gauteng and the Eastern Cape (the birthplace of Nelson Mandela ) until mid- September 2012.

The film crew and actors in the Videovision Entertainment production went to the prison on Robben Island, off Cape Town. It was in this prison that Nelson Mandela was imprisoned and sentenced for 18 years ( a total of about 27 years of imprisonment) and where he wrote his memoirs from 1974 to 1990, the year of his release. Among the 12,000 extras, the director and the sound director sought for 140 former prisoners who knew Nelson Mandela so that the film was closer to reality.

Producers of Videovision Entertainment, along with those of Distant Horizon, have appealed to many South African actors. In March 2012, the British actor Idris Elba was finally chosen to play the role of Nelson Mandela. Like Morgan Freeman, Danny Glover, David Harewood, Dennis Haysbert, Terrence Howard, Clarke Peters, Sidney Poitier, the actor did not yet obtained South African citizenship. The main problem was the size. Nelson Mandela wa a tall man. On average, South African actors were not tall enough", explained the casting director.

Release:

Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom had its world premiere at the International Film Festival in Toronto in September 2013.
This film was screened in the United States and Canada on November 29, 2013 . In France it was released just before Christmas, precisely on December 18, 2013 .

Critical reception

 The biopic has changed the environment of the figurehead of the struggle against Apartheid. Winnie Mandela told she had " no words " to express what she felt while watching the film, stressing its loyalty in "the transcript of the pain of the past ".

"We need to remember where we came from and how this freedom was hard to tear and it had a very heavy price", said Winnie, now 76 years old, played on screen by young British actress Noamie Harris. During the 27 years of detention of her husband, she kept the flame of resistance, paying dearly for this commitment, including the prison. Mandela 's daughter also enjoyed the biopic "rich in emotion."

Box Office

South Africa
From the first weekend, the film was a success at the South African box office, with more than 4.4 billion rand collected (over 427 thousand dollars).

The History of Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( Xhosa pronounced [ Xoliala Mandela ] ) whose tribal clan name was " Madiba ", was born on the 18^th of July 1918 in Mvezo (Union of South Africa ) and died on December 5^th, 2013 in Johannesburg. He was one of the historic leaders of the struggle against the institutional political system of racial segregation ( Apartheid ) before becoming president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, following the first non-racial national elections of the country's history.

Adrien and Amaury