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The International Black Film Festival of Nashville (IBFFN) has announced the Nashville, TN premiere screening of Winnie Mandela – the biopic based on the life of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, which will be a special finale of IBFFN’s 2013 Summer Film Series

The film will be shown, in its only screening in the state of Tennessee, at 7 p.m. this Thursday, September 5 at the spacious Manna From Heaven, a faith based organization, located at 3510 West Hamilton Road in Nashville. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., movie starts at 7 pm.

Note that the film opens this Friday, in a limited theatrical release, so those in Nashville will get to see it a day early; and, as the IBFFN states via press release, this will be the ONLY screening in the state of Tennessee. So if you’re in the Nashville area, and you’re interested in seeing the film, this may be your only chance – at least, until it’s released on DVD or VOD.

The rest of the story…

The primary goal of the IBFFN Summer Film Series is to connect the art of independent films with cinema fans everywhere. Nashville, a legendary city for unique art and music, continues to be the home of an engaged and energized audience.

Produced by megachurch pastor T.D. Jakes and his company TDJ Enterprises/Film Bridge International, Winnie tells the story of Nomzamo Winfreda “Winnie” Zanyiwe Madikizela, who grew up in what is now South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province. In spite of her nation’s apartheid system against the majority-black populace, she managed to earn two degrees and almost began her adult life in America until she met lawyer and anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela in 1957. Six years later, Winnie was pushed onto the public political stage, after her husband Nelson was imprisoned for 36 years, to work with the African National Congress to set him free. Because of her activism, she was first exiled and then imprisoned for eighteen months in solitary confinement at Pretoria Central Prison. After Mandela was released in a worldwide frenzy of celebration, the couple realized the time and strain of the struggle left them as different people and they divorced.  

“This is a critical film, as it depicts the story of Winnie Mandela, wife of South Africa’s most symbolic and iconic figure, former President Nelson Mandela, during a pivotal time in the fight to eradicate the system of apartheid. As we commemorate one of the most prolific civil right movements in US history, the 50th Year Celebration of the Civil Rights March on Washington, this film also reflects the horrors of racial injustice.”

Academy Award and NAACP Image Award winner Jennifer Hudson stars in the title role of Winnie with a critically acclaimed performance already generating Oscar buzz. Screen Actors Guild and NAACP Image Award winner Terrence Howard gives a surprising performance as the legendary Nelson Mandela.

Winnie Mandela was originally presented at the Toronto Film Festival in 2011 but was never released to theaters. Pastor Jakes acquired the movie, re-edited the film acquired theatrical distribution across all major markets in the US by RLJ Entertainment.

In a recent interview, Jakes told christianpost.com about Winnie Mandela, “This movie offers American audiences a rare opportunity to visit the amazing beauty of South Africa from a theater seat,” said Jakes of Dallas-based The Potter’s House, who is the executive producer of the film.

Please visit our website at www.ibffnashville to purchase tickets and for more information on the screening and the October 2013 festival.