Nelson mandela long walk to freedom biography
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
film by Justin Chadwick
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is a 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 autobiographical book Long Walk to Freedom by anti-apartheid revolutionary and former South African PresidentNelson Mandela.
Plot
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 of South Africa and working to improve the country once ravaged by Apartheid.
Cast
Production
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.
Music
For the film, U2 wrote the song "Ordinary Love". Subscribers of the band's official website were able to hear a short snippet first.
Release
The film held its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September It was released on 28 November in South Africa and on 3 January in the United Kingdom, a week before and a month after Mandela died, respectively.
Long Walk to Freedom premiered in London on 5 December as a Royal Film Performance, an event held in aid of the Film & TV Charity, 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; the Duke and Duchess were immediately informed of Mandela's death, while producer Anant Singh (alongside Idris Elba) too
Book Review: Long Walk to Freedom - Nelson Mandela
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
Title: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM
Author: Nelson Mandela (President, Rep of South Africa)
Publisher: Macdonald Purnell (PTY) Ltd, Randburg, South Africa.
The riveting memoirs of one of the great moral and political leaders of our time - an international hero whose accomplishments won him the Nobel Peace Prize.
Preview
Since his release in February , Nelson Mandela has emerged as the world's most significant moral leader since Mahatma President of the African National Congress and spiritual figurehead of the anti- aparthied movement, he was instrumental in moving South Africa towards black-majority rule. And throughout the world he is revered as a vital force in the fight for human rights and racial equality.
The foster son of a Tembu chief, Mandela grew up straddling two worlds: the traditional culture of his tribe, and the hostile reality of a white dominated nation. A career in law beckoned, but Mandela's growing political awareness moved him to become more actively engaged, and he played a pivotal role in the formation of the ANC Youth League. In the early s he initiated the `defiance campaign' against the discrimina- tory policies of the South African government,and argued for non-violent resistance to aparthied. However, following the Sharpeville massacre in his position changed, and he was forced underground to avoid the newly-imposed ban on the ANC.
The horrors at Sharpeville hardened Mandela's resolve, and he began to advocate a different course of `non-terrorist' action, aimed at the state but theoretically preventing civilian unrest. In he was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of incitement to sabotage, treason, and violent conspiracy against the South African regime. Mandela was to spend a total of twenty-seven years in captivity, most of them in the notorious prison on Robben Island.
Now, following the Autobiography of Nelson Mandela This article is about the Nelson Mandela autobiography. For other uses, see Long Walk to Freedom (disambiguation). Long Walk to Freedom is an autobiography by South Africa's first democratically elected PresidentNelson Mandela, and it was first published in by Little Brown & Co. The book profiles his early life, coming of age, education and 27 years spent in prison. Under the apartheid government, Mandela was regarded as a terrorist and jailed on Robben Island for his role as a leader of the then-outlawed African National Congress (ANC) and its armed wing the Umkhonto We Sizwe. He later achieved international recognition for his leadership as president in rebuilding the country's once segregationist society. The last chapters of the book describe his political ascension and his belief that the struggle still continued against apartheid in South Africa. In the first part of the autobiography, Mandela describes his upbringing as a child and adolescent in South Africa and being connected to the royal Thembu dynasty. His Xhosa birth name was Rolihlahla, which is loosely translated as "pulling the branch of a tree", or a euphemism for "troublemaker". Mandela describes his education at a Thembu college called Clarkebury, and later at the strict Healdtown school. He mentions his education at the University of Fort Hare, and his practice of law later on. He also writes; "Democracy meant all men to be heard, and the decision was taken together as a people. Majority rule was a foreign notion. A minority was not to be clashed by a majority." (p.&#;29) In the second part of the book, Mandela introduces political and social aspects of apartheid in South Africa, and the influences of politicians such as Daniel François Malan who implemented the nadir of African freedoms, as he officially commenced the apart Rolihlahla Mandela was born into the Madiba clan in the village of Mvezo, in the Eastern Cape, on 18 July His mother was Nonqaphi Nosekeni and his father was Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela, principal counsellor to the Acting King of the Thembu people, Jongintaba Dalindyebo. In , when he was 12 years old, his father died and the young Rolihlahla became a ward of Jongintaba at the Great Place in Mqhekezweni. Hearing the elders’ stories of his ancestors’ valour during the wars of resistance, he dreamed also of making his own contribution to the freedom struggle of his people. He attended primary school in Qunu where his teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave him the name Nelson, in accordance with the custom of giving all schoolchildren “Christian” names. He completed his Junior Certificate at Clarkebury Boarding Institute and went on to Healdtown, a Wesleyan secondary school of some repute, where he matriculated. Mandela began his studies for a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University College of Fort Hare but did not complete the degree there as he was expelled for joining in a student protest. On his return to the Great Place at Mqhekezweni the King was furious and said if he didn’t return to Fort Hare he would arrange wives for him and his cousin Justice. They ran away to Johannesburg instead, arriving there in There he worked as a mine security officer and after meeting Walter Sisulu, an estate agent, he was introduced to Lazer Sidelsky. He then did his articles through a firm of attorneys – Witkin, Eidelman and Sidelsky. He completed his BA through the University of South Africa and went back to Fort Hare for his graduation in Nelson Mandela (top row, second from left) on the steps of Wits University. Meanwhile, he began studying for an LLB at the University of the Witwatersrand. By his own admission he was a poor student and left the university in without graduating. He only started studying again through Long Walk to Freedom
Overview