Winnie Mandela biopic struggles to beat bad rap

The rise and ignoble fall of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is at the centre of Winnie, a sprawling South African-Canadian co-production that hits theatres this weekend after a tortured festival run.

Director Darrell Roodt fully expected the film would put him on the hot seat over the controversial leader’s rightful place in history, but these days he just as often finds himself forced to explain the premature downfall of Winnie itself.

He says the ambitious biopic was getting Oscar whispers for stars Jennifer Hudson and Terrence Howard before it was slammed by savage reviews from critics.

That drubbing took place more than a year ago, when an unfinished version of the movie appeared at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Roodt admits “that smell from TIFF” lingers to this day, although he notes a recut Winnie that recently screened at the Montreal International Black Film Festival was greeted by an enthusiastic audience.

“It wasn’t finished; it should never have been shown at TIFF,” Roodt says in a phone call from Johannesburg.

“The South African producer, he got greedy, he saw dollar signs and fame and glory, and it’s a golden rule: never ever show your film until it’s complete, with the sound on, the picture, the music, all of that stuff. And that proved to be the case.”

Since then, Roodt says the story has been fleshed out and fine-tuned, making for a much stronger film and a more complete picture of who Madikizela-Mandela really is.

“We have more background information on her birth and where she came from, and more detail within the story itself. (The other cut) was like a truncated version; it was like the Reader’s Digest condensed version,” he says of the $15-million feature, which includes $1 million in production funds from Telefilm, and co-stars Canadians Elias Koteas and Wendy Crewson.

“This is a much tougher movie. It is much more uncompromising.”