Oscar winners Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon portray Nelson Mandela and Francois Pienaar respectively in the upcoming movie Invictus to be released in December this year
November 5, 2009 – A pivotal moment in South Africa’s long struggle towards a democratic, unified South Africa took place on a rugby field.
When Nelson Mandela, wearing the distinctive green jersey of South Africa’s national rugby team and a cap emblazoned with the Springbok logo, raised aloft the William Webb Ellis trophy after South Africa defeated New Zealand in the 1995 Rugby World Cup final, the image immediately became a representation of his unifying leadership and the power of sport.
This seemingly simple act, replayed and reproduced countless times to millions of people around the globe, was layered with complexity and meaning to all South Africans as well as having a place in the wider context of social reconciliation in world history.
The story leading up to that iconic image, symbolising an important period in Mr Mandela’s life and in South Africa’s history, has now been made into a movie directed by Clint Eastwood. The Centre of Memory and Dialogue provided research assistance to the production.
The film, Invictus, stars Oscar-winning actors Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon in the lead roles as Mr Mandela and the then Springbok captain, Francois Pienaar, respectively.
The film tells the story of how South Africa’s newly elected President Mandela, keenly aware of the racial and economic fault lines running through his nation just after apartheid was abolished, rallied the national rugby team in a bid to unify South Africans through the universal language of sport. Against tremendous odds, South Africa went on to win the final and, in doing so, achieved a seemingly impossible victory both on the field and in the psyche of a divided nation.
Invictus, which opens in South Africa on December 11, is distributed by Warner Bros Pictures, a Warner Bros Entertainment Company, and was filmed entirely on location in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Click to read more about Invictus.