Winnie Mandela Biopic Starring Jennifer Hudson Hits Theaters Today

The Winnie Mandela biopic starring Jennifer Hudson will hit theaters today, September 6, 2013, distributed by Image Entertainment, who acquired the rights at the 2013 Cannes International Film Festival. Budgeted at $15 million, the film is an adaptation of Anné Mariè du Preez Bezdrob's biography Winnie Mandela: A Life and is written and directed by Darrell J. Roodt.

Winnie Mandela stars Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls; Sex in the City) and Academy Award nominee Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow; Red Tails; Iron Man) and will be released in theaters Fall 2013. The film is presented by TD Jakes, and produced by André Pieterse (Ironwood Films) and Michael Mosca (Equinoxe Films).

Winnie Mandela explores the personal and political life of the wife of renowned activist and former South African President Nelson Mandela (Terrence Howard). The film tells the compelling story of one woman's journey as she fights for the freedom of the man she loves and for the freedom of her people during the Apartheid era. Winnie Mandela depicts the struggle to keep the Mandela dream alive amidst her husband's life imprisonment, her own time in solitary confinement, and her battle to overcome controversies that followed her through the years.

Winnie Mandela made 70 appearances on American network television, merited 20 stories in the New York Times, and was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Known as South Africa's Brave and selfless "Mother of the Nation," she became one of the most famous women in the world.