Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom LA Premiere

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On November 11^th the LA premiere of Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom graced the ArcLight theater in Hollywood. Omarosa Manigault, Angela Bassett, Lance Gross and many more were all in attendance as well as the legendary Quincy Jones,  who introduced the cast before the start of the film.

The surprise of the evening was when Zindzi Mandela, daughter of Nelson Mandela,  spoke at the premier and expressed her excitement of being one of the catalyst to bring the production together.  She expressed how pleased she was with Lindiwe Matshikiza’s portrayal of her. The film was shot, produce , funded  in South Africa.  The director Justin Chadwick painted an inspiring picture of Nelson Mandela that took over 20 years to bring to life.

When Justin Chadwick called Idris Elba (Nelson Mandela) to the stage, you could hear the swooning sighs of admiring women, then they paid attention to his speech on how he was inspired by the film.

This captivating biopic of Nelson Mandela showed a part of his story that we never knew. We all knew about the 27-year jail sentence and his rise to power. However there are so many hidden gems in this film that encompass the human side of this powerful leader.

For example, I was really drawn in by his relationship with Winnie Mandela (played by Naomie Harris).  Initially she and Nelson shared the same beliefs in regards to the unfair laws and racial politics.  As their marriage progressed they had two daughters and Nelson became more involved with the ANC (African National Congress), and Winnie began to hate more and more. Although, Nelson Mandela didn’t believe in the harsh negative treatment Africans were receiving, he wanted peace, and Winnie was out for blood and revenge. This put a strain on their marriage which led to an unfaithful wife.

This story depicts Nelson Mandela as an educated man with a big heart and selfless spirit.  He wanted to make a better life not just for his family, but for all the people of Africa. What this conveyed to me was it’s not about just having faith and praying to God, it’s about putting in work, sacrifice, and standing up for what you believe in no matter what anyone says or thinks.  If you feel like being empowered I highly recommend you see this film coming to theaters on November 29^th.

Long Walk to Freedom

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