A New Nelson Mandela Documentary is Coming From Director Antoine Fuqua

The full scope of the life and trials of the late South African president Nelson Mandela is still being revealed as a new documentary featuring unreleased audio tapes is set to hit the big screen soon. American film director Antoine Fuqua is slated to release a feature documentary provisionally titled, Troublemaker: The Story Behind the Mandela Tapes, which will feature an “honest, accurate, and definitive depiction” of the man who changed the lives of millions around the world. U.S.-based publication Variety broke the news first thing Monday by sharing the logline, which focuses on Mandela’s 27 years in prison and his road to becoming a “pioneering activist, lawyer-turned-freedom fighter [that] walked from prison into a country on the brink of a violent racial conflagration to become the first democratically elected president of South Africa.”

Fuqua, who is known for box office hit Training Day, featuring American actor Denzel Washington, shared his excitement for the documentary saying, “For decades, Mandela and his comrades were put through the most inhumane conditions imaginable. Yet they came out of jail with love and forgiveness in their hearts, and rather than seeking vengeance, they sought to unite the country. His compassion and inner strength enabled Mandela to make meaningful change.”

Fuqua added that the film will investigate how Mandela “came through his ordeals with his humanity intact, and reveal the tough and shrewd politician behind his iconic ‘nice guy’ persona.”

To maintain accuracy long after Mandela's passing, Fuqua enlisted his former cellmate and close friend, former South African politician Mac Maharaj as Executive Producer. Maharaj shared a cell with Mandela for 12 years, and was the person to transcribe the late president’s autobiography, before being the one to smuggle it out of Robben Island. The former anti-apartheid activist shared, “I have longed to see the story of Nelson Mandela, and his decades-long fight and sacrifice for freedom, equality and justice told in an authentic, complex and revelatory way. It is a story that is more relevant to humanity today, than ever. I am thrilled that a director of Antoine Fuqua’s skill, creativity, and integrity has agreed to take on this challenging task.”

Fuqua added: “I’m incredibly fortunate to be partnered on this project with Mac Maharaj, whose experiences, intelligence and encyclopedic memory of his years alongside Mandela are invaluable.”

Maharaj will shed light on his time sending communication between Mandela and his political party, the African National Congress (ANC), as well as his time serving the party in the late '90s and early 2000s.

It’s been over 10 years since the former president passed away at age 95, but the Mandela name continues to make headlines. Last month, Mandela’s first daughter Makaziwe Mandela ruffled feathers after she announced the intention to auction off a number of her father’s personal belongings. Items up for auction included his hearing aids for $20,000, a shirt for close to $70,000 and other possessions. South Africans – including the government – emphatically expressed their disapproval of the planned sales, and the auction was subsequently canceled indefinitely by New York City based host auction house Guernsey.