A unique hybrid of spy thriller and documentary,
Mandela’s Gun tells the story of the Makarov pistol that Ethiopian Emperor, Haile Selassie, gave Nelson Mandela. Tumisho Masha plays the young Mandela who co-founded
uMkhonto we Sizwe in the aftermath of the Sharpeville massacre.
Tasked with building an army, Mandela left South Africa for military training in Algeria and Ethiopia. Traveling on false passports, he evaded capture and assassination attempts during his African odyssey, which also took him to Botswana and Tanzania.
“This is one of the last great untold stories of the struggle,” says DV8 Films producer, Moroba Nkawe.
SAFTA winner, Masha, is the first South African to play Mandela as a lead role in a major film. The all-local cast also includes
SAFTA nominee, Zethu Dlomo as Winnie Mandela,
SAFTA winners, Nick Boraine and Meren Reddy, as Cecil Williams and Ahmed Kathrada respectively, and multi-award-winner, Desmond Dube as Govan Mbeki.
Director John Irvin is known for the classic TV series,
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, with Alec Guinness, and war films like
The Dogs of War, with Christopher Walken, and
Hamburger Hill, with Don Cheadle and Dylan McDermott.
Co-written by Malcolm Purkey and Athos Kyriakides,
Mandela’s Gun is set in the early 1960s. It was filmed on location in Cape Town, Johannesburg, London, Algeria, Botswana, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. DearHeart Productions (UK), Delimanzi Films (South Africa), and Agence Algérienne pour le Rayonnement Culture (AARC), produced
Mandela’s Gun over a five-year period as the first ever British, South African, and Algerian co-production.
Mandela's Gun premieres on Friday, 28 October, at The Zone, Rosebank, with a second screening at Maponya Mall in Soweto on Saturday, 29 October.
For more information, visit
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