Director impressed by Winnie

AFTER spending many days with political stalwart Winnie Madikizela-Mandela‚ French director Pascale Lamche says she has learnt invaluable life lessons from the South African icon.

Lamche spent time with Madikizela-Mandela during the filming of her documentary Winnie‚ which won her a best director award at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah last month.

The documentary tells the untold story of Madikizela-Mandela’s fight against apartheid.

Having access to the struggle stalwart herself‚ Lamche said some of the lessons MadikizelaMandela had taught her could be used throughout the world.

“I think the greatest lesson I learned from Mama Winnie was that human and socialist principles are the most important foundations for any society and that these founding principles need endlessly to be defended‚” she said.

Madikizela-Mandela had taught her that taking care of peoples’ basic needs should be a priority for all nations.

“Sharing the resources of a nation as equitably as possible and taking care of education‚ health and housing for all‚ are priorities for all nations‚ however hard the road to democracy might have been‚ however many concessions to corporate interests had to be made‚” she said.

Lamche said that she would always treasure Madikizela-Mandela’s fresh and true take on her history that helped her tell a powerful story.

“I very much enjoyed our last interview, when I showed Mama Winnie a number of pieces of archives to do with aspects of her history and experience that I wanted to tell in the film.

“Her responses were so fresh and so true‚ they made for a very powerful film that knocked out audiences at Sundance.”

Lamche hopes to inspire women around the world through this documentary to keep up the struggle. “Keep up the struggle and make the best work you can. And stick together!” she said.