Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has again lashed out at the upcoming movie about her life, directed by Darrell Roodt and starring Jennifer Hudson.
She told CNN that her reaction to the movie does not have anything to do with the fact that an American actress will be playing her as a struggle heroine.
"I have absolutely nothing against Jennifer, but I have everything against the movie itself," she told CNN’s Nadia Bilchik.
The film, titled Winnie, sparked controversy when two American stars were cast in the lead roles (besides Hudson in the title role, the movie also stars Terrence Howard as Nelson Mandela) and an actors' union (the Creative Workers Union of South Africa) sought to boycott the film. Madikizela-Mandela also threatened to halt production of the movie.
'An amazing love story'
"I was not consulted," she tells CNN. "I am still alive, and I think that it is a total disrespect to come to South Africa, make a movie about my struggle, and call that movie some translation of a romantic life of Winnie Mandela."
Director Darrell Roodt (best known for Cry, the Beloved Country and the Oscar-nominated Aids film Yesterday) described the film as "the ultimate women's movie" and "an amazing love story", at the 2010 Cannes film festival.
"I think it is an insult," Mandela told CNN of the film. "I don’t know what would be romantic in our bitter struggle."
Hudson, who won an Oscar for her role in the musical Dreamgirls, did not meet with Madikizela-Mandela prior to filming, at the insistence of the filmmakers.
Winnie is based on Anne Marie du Preez Bezdrob's biography, Winnie Mandela: A Life and, according to producer Andre Pieterse, "The film will be made based on a screenplay that was well researched and without any interference, without any influence from any of the main characters."
Winnie: The Opera
A teaser trailer for the film was leaked online late last year and was met with widespread scorn.
The film is expected to be released in the US ahead of South Africa, most likely in late 2011, and comes in the wake of Winnie: The Opera, which was produced by Mfundi Vundla and opened at the Pretoria State Theatre in April.
However, the opera received Madikizela-Mandela's blessing and she delivered a speech from the stage on opening night.
She told CNN that Vundla did an "amazing job".
"Of course not everyone would be happy about how that life was depicted. I don't think it is possible to show 18 months of solitary confinement in an opera situation and I don't think it is possible to transit to Brandfort and depict those nine and a half years of banishment."
She added: "It is not possible to translate the actual torture each and every mother went through. I was one of those who got the bitter end of the apartheid stick."
Source: Channel24
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She told CNN that her reaction to the movie does not have anything to do with the fact that an American actress will be playing her as a struggle heroine.
"I have absolutely nothing against Jennifer, but I have everything against the movie itself," she told CNN’s Nadia Bilchik.
The film, titled Winnie, sparked controversy when two American stars were cast in the lead roles (besides Hudson in the title role, the movie also stars Terrence Howard as Nelson Mandela) and an actors' union (the Creative Workers Union of South Africa) sought to boycott the film. Madikizela-Mandela also threatened to halt production of the movie.
'An amazing love story'
"I was not consulted," she tells CNN. "I am still alive, and I think that it is a total disrespect to come to South Africa, make a movie about my struggle, and call that movie some translation of a romantic life of Winnie Mandela."
Director Darrell Roodt (best known for Cry, the Beloved Country and the Oscar-nominated Aids film Yesterday) described the film as "the ultimate women's movie" and "an amazing love story", at the 2010 Cannes film festival.
"I think it is an insult," Mandela told CNN of the film. "I don’t know what would be romantic in our bitter struggle."
Hudson, who won an Oscar for her role in the musical Dreamgirls, did not meet with Madikizela-Mandela prior to filming, at the insistence of the filmmakers.
Winnie is based on Anne Marie du Preez Bezdrob's biography, Winnie Mandela: A Life and, according to producer Andre Pieterse, "The film will be made based on a screenplay that was well researched and without any interference, without any influence from any of the main characters."
Winnie: The Opera
A teaser trailer for the film was leaked online late last year and was met with widespread scorn.
The film is expected to be released in the US ahead of South Africa, most likely in late 2011, and comes in the wake of Winnie: The Opera, which was produced by Mfundi Vundla and opened at the Pretoria State Theatre in April.
However, the opera received Madikizela-Mandela's blessing and she delivered a speech from the stage on opening night.
She told CNN that Vundla did an "amazing job".
"Of course not everyone would be happy about how that life was depicted. I don't think it is possible to show 18 months of solitary confinement in an opera situation and I don't think it is possible to transit to Brandfort and depict those nine and a half years of banishment."
She added: "It is not possible to translate the actual torture each and every mother went through. I was one of those who got the bitter end of the apartheid stick."
Source: Channel24
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