Idris Elba, star of Luther, The Wire and films such as Pacific Rim, plays Madiba in the forthcoming biopic Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Naomie Harris plays Winnie Mandela in the film, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September. Directed by Justin Chadwick - best known for The Other Boleyn Girl - the film is due out wide release on the 3rd of January 2014, and is based on Mandela's own autobiographical book Long Walk to Freedom.
In a poignant coincidence, the film's London premiere was held last night, with the audience informed of Mandela's death once the film had finished.
This is far from the first time Mandela's life has been portrayed on screen. The most well-known recent example is Invictus, which recounted Mandela's relationship with the captain of the South African rugby team during the period surrounding the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa. Morgan Freeman played Mandela in the Clint Eastwood directed film.
Winnie, meanwhile, is a 2011 production focused on the story of Mandela's ex-wife Winnie (portrayed by Jennifer Hudson). Madiba himself was played by Terence Howard. Although the film premiered over two years ago, it did not receive a wide release in the US until earlier this year. It opened to generally negative reviews.
Goodbye Bafana (also known as The Colour of Freedom) told the story of Mandela's prison days, with Dennis Haysbert of 24 fame tackling the iconic personality.
Although those examples are all relatively recent, Mandela's life has been of interest to filmmakers and audiences for decades. Other efforts include a West German TV production from 1966 and two American TV movies: one starring Danny Glover in 1987, and Mandela and de Klerk with Sidney Poitier. The Wire / Treme star Clarke Peters featured as Mandela in a supporting role in the 2009 film End Game, which is focused on the last days of apartheid.
No native South African actor has yet played Mandela in a major international production. Local actors have, however, played the former President in local television or cameo roles, such as Lindani Nkosi's small role in 2004's Drum.
Interestingly, Mandela himself made a cameo appearance in Spike Lee's Malcolm X biopic:
We haven't even addressed all the documentaries based on his story. Luckily, the archive and interview footage of Mandela is plentiful, so his words will continue to resonate for younger generations.
Mandela was an inspiration not just in South Africa but the world over, and it looks likely his legacy and remarkable life story will continue to inspire filmmakers well into the future.
