Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
| Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Justin Chadwick |
| Produced by |
David M. Thompson Anant Singh |
| Screenplay by | William Nicholson |
| Based on |
Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela |
| Starring |
Idris Elba Naomie Harris |
| Music by |
Alex Heffes U2 |
| Cinematography | Lol Crawley |
| Edited by | Rick Russell |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by |
20th Century Fox The Weinstein Company |
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Release date
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Running time
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146 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom South Africa |
| Language | English Xhosa Afrikaans |
| Budget | $35 million |
| Box office | $27.3 million |
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is a 2013 British-South African biographical film directed by Justin Chadwick from a script written by William Nicholson and starring Idris Elba and Naomie Harris. The film is based on the 1995 autobiographical book Long Walk to Freedom by anti-apartheid revolutionary and former South African President Nelson Mandela.
Based on South African President Nelson Mandela's autobiography of the same name, which chronicles his early life, coming of age, education and 27 years in prison before becoming President and working to rebuild the country's once segregated society.
Producer Anant Singh started working on the project after interviewing Mandela while he was still imprisoned two decades prior. Following the publication of Mandela's autobiography, Singh was granted the rights to the film adaptation, which was completed 16 years later by screenwriter William Nicholson. The film is directed by Justin Chadwick.
For the film, U2 wrote the song "Ordinary Love". Subscribers of the band's official website were able to hear a short snippet first.
The film held its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2013. It was released on 28 November 2013 in South Africa and on 3 January 2014 in the United Kingdom, a week before and a month after Mandela died, respectively.
Long Walk to Freedom premiered in London on 5 December 2013 as a Royal Film Performance, Prince William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were in attendance, along with Mandela's daughters Zindzi and Zenani. The announcement of the death of Nelson Mandela occurred while the film was being screened; William and Kate were immediately informed of Nelson's passing, while producer Anant Singh (alongside Idris Elba) took the stage during the closing credits to inform patrons of Mandela's passing, and held a moment of silence. William made brief comments to the press while exiting the theatre, stating that "I just wanted to say it's extremely sad and tragic news. We were just reminded what an extraordinary and inspiring man Nelson Mandela was. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family right now." The film was temporarily pulled from theatres in South Africa the next day out of respect, but returned on 7 December 2013. On the 8th of December to mark the launch of the film a Gala dinner, private screening and charity auction in aid of the children's charity Onetoonechildrensfund. Sir Trevor McDonald was Master of Ceremonies for the evening, introducing the auction where one of a limited edition of 6 portrait heads of Nelson Mandela, sculpted from life by David Cregeen. The head was donated by the sculptor and sold in aid of the charity's work in South Africa.
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