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Memoirs of Nelson Mandela’s assistant get movie treatment

February 24, 2016

The upcoming movie about Nelson Mandela is based on the memoirs of his personal assistant, Zelda la Grange, seen here on the right. – AFP/Relaxnews pic, February 24, 2016.Less than three years after the biopic "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" hit screens a few days after his death in December 2013, the former South African president is to be the subject of a new feature film currently in the works.

Nelson Mandela's life story is well known, from his fight against South Africa's apartheid and his arrest in 1962 – followed by 27 years in detention – to his 1994 election as president of the country. But a new movie, currently in the works at Marven Pictures, will show a different side to the public figure based on "Good Morning, Mr Mandela", the memoirs of his personal assistant, Zelda la Grange.

From his election to his death, this Afrikaner was present behind the scenes at Mandela's side for 19 years. As his secretary, assistant and right-hand woman, Zelda la Grange established a close and privileged relationship with "Madiba" in spite of her background.

Until being hired for the role aged 23, the young La Grange was heavily influenced by her white family and their pro-apartheid views, who considered Nelson Mandela a terrorist. Working at the Nobel Prize-winner's side soon led her to change her ideas – and those of her relations – to become an advocate of the Rainbow Nation.

A role already played by Idris Elba and Morgan Freeman

This movie, which has no director or actors on board yet, should shed a new, more intimate light on Nelson Mandela – the man so blissfully oblivious in his brushes with James Bond and Brad Pitt, according to Zelda La Grange's 2014 book.

The movie will complement the more official and academic portrayals of his life already seen on the big and small screens.

In 1997, Sidney Poitier played the South African leader in "Mandela and de Klerk", a movie focusing on Mandela's liberation, announced seven years earlier by the country's then president, Frederik de Klerk.

Ten years later, Dennis Haysbert played Mandela in "Goodbye Bafana", looking at his years in detention and his relationship with prison guard James Gregory.

Clint Eastwood's 2010 movie "Invictus" saw Morgan Freeman in the role of the former South African president, striving to ease racial tensions as the country hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

At the end of 2013, just a few days after his death, his life story was turned into the big-screen biopic "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom", with Idris Elba in the starring role. – AFP/Relaxnews, February 24, 2016.