“Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” hits German cinema screens successfully

BERLIN - Feb. 3, 2014 - PRLog -- Idris Elba plays Mandela, the freedom fighter who became the first democratically elected president of South Africa in 1994, as well as being the first black president in history.

The German company Senator Entertainment, which Sapinda Holding B.V. has shares in, was responsible for this adaptation of the autobiography of the South African, who was born in 1918. The film shows the eventful life of the first freely and democratically elected president of South Africa, and tells the tale of his childhood through his incarceration and election as president. In 1962 the anti-apartheid freedom fighter was charged with planning an armed uprising and illegal foreign travel, and condemned to life imprisonment.¹ During his 27 years of incarceration his supporters, especially his wife Winnie Mandela (played in the film by Naomie Harris), fought tirelessly for his release.

English director Justin Chadwickused the script developed by William Nicolson based on Mandela’s book “Long Walk to Freedom” which Mandela published in 1995. The cast is extraordinary. Idris Elba brilliantly internalises and embodies every gesture and facial expression of the South African anti-apartheid freedom fighter.²

Just two months before the film release of “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” in German cinemas, on 5 December 2013 Nelson Mandela passed away after long illness, aged 95 in Houghton, Johannesburg, South Africa.

The film premieres all over the world were moving events. During his lifetime Nelson Mandela fought for freedom, democracy, human rights and peace. In Berlin a charity gala was hosted in support of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, attended by Idris Elba as well as Mandela’s daughter Zindzi Mandela.⁴ Amongst the many famous guests, German Foreign MinisterFrank-Walter Steinmeier, Green Party politician Claudia Roth and German business entrepreneur Lars Windhorst were also present.

¹ http://www.n24.de/n24/Nachrichten/Politik/d/3947584/vom-f...

² http://www.sueddeutsche.de/panorama/mandela-film-laeuft-i...

³ http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/nelson-mandela-ist-...

⁴ http://www.morgenpost.de/vermischtes/stars-und-promis/article124287009/Prominente-Gaeste-bei-Mandela-Gala-im-Hotel-Adlon.html