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Johannesburg - The film about the life of former president Nelson Mandela received standing ovations and rave reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival, producers said on Monday.
The film, titled Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom premiered at the Toronto film festival on Saturday.
"The film received an unprecedented eight-minute standing ovation coupled with a rapturous applause at the Festival venue, the Roy Thomson Hall, resulting in social media platforms buzzing with praise for the film," the producers said in a statement.
Producer Anant Singh, who owns the rights to the autobiography on which the film is based, said the making of film was a long journey.
Watch the Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom trailer here
"I am delighted that I finally got it done. It has been worth the wait and also worth all of the hard work that went into it over all of those years."
The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "From the period production and costume design to the stately visuals and panoramic shots of magnificent landscapes, this is a classy production that will inspire many audiences with its deeply respectful portrait of one of the global political stage’s indisputably great leaders."
Read the full THR review here.
Industry trade publication Variety stated, "little expense seems to have been spared in bringing it to life... period sets and costumes are uniformly fine, changing convincingly with each successive era, while the crowd scenes buzz with real (rather than CG) extras."
Read the full Variety review here.
Deadline.com declared, "this beautifully shot and realized epic takes us into the world of Mandela... it is filmmaking of the highest order... Count both Elba and Harris, for her complex Winnie, as good shots for nominations along with many of the technical aspects of the stunning looking film."
Singh began communicating with Mandela while he was still in prison and acquired the rights to the autobiography in 1996.
The film features Idris Elba, who plays Mandela, and Naomie Harris who plays Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.
Idris and Naomie were both recipients of the Male and Female Breakthrough in Film Award, respectively, at The Hollywood Reporter Inaugural Breakthrough in Film Awards on Sunday in Toronto. The award honours the work of an actor and actress in a leading role whose performance marks a turning point in their career.
Terry Pheto and Riaad Moosa also co-star in Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom.
The film will be released in South Africa on 29 November and thereafter released to the rest of the world.
- Channel24
