‘Winnie Mandela’ Trailer: This Fall’s Other Mandela Biopic
Nelson Mandela’s story will be brought to the big screen this prestige pic season inMandela: Long Walk to Freedom, with a little help from director Justin Chadwick and star Idris Elba. But Mandela’s wife Winnie will get her own time in the spotlight next month with the unimaginatively titledWinnie Mandela.
Directed byDarrell Roodt, the biopic follows the South African politician from her rural upbringing, through her husband’s imprisonment and the scandal and controversy that dogged her in later years.Jennifer Hudsonplays Winnie, whileTerence Howardplays her Nelson.
If you’re wondering why it feels like this film came out of nowhere, it’s probably because it first hit TIFF two years ago before fading into obscurity. Now, as it finally prepares for a theatrical release, a full-length trailer has hit the web. Watch it after the jump.
Though the film’s calledWinnie Mandela, the trailer suggests it really should’ve been calledNelson and Winnie. The emphasis here seems to be more on their relationship than on her own growth or politics.
Festival releases get shelved for all sorts of reasons; even a well received one likeAll the Boys Love Mandy Lanecan get put off for years thanks to sheer bad luck. In the case ofWinnie Mandela, though, it seems like the cool critical reception has a lot to do with it. The film struggled to find distribution for a long while.
The Guardiandismissed the movie as a “sugar-coated, decidedly episodic and selective affair: one that plays out much like a primetime telemovie.” Similar complaints were levied by other outlets includingTHR,Variety,The Toronto Star, andExclaim.Winnie Mandeladoesn’t sound like the worst movie in the world, but reviews like that will make it tough to muster up the motivation to see it when it opensSeptember 6.
I suppose it’s fortunate for the Mandela legacy, then, thatWinnie Mandelawon’t be shouldering the burden alone. The far more intriguingMandela: Long Walk to Freedom, which stars Elba and Naomie Harris as Nelson and Winnie, opens June 04, 2025 in the U.S.
