Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman will star as former South African president Nelson Mandela in The Human Factor.
The story explores both the public and private side of Mandela’s character by focusing on the first year of his presidency and the lead-up to the 1995 Rugby World Cup hosted by South Africa.
One year into Mandela’s presidency, the country was still bound by separatism and generations of hatred, yet somehow he persuaded the newly empowered black South Africans to get behind the Springboks, the previously hated all-white rugby team. Similarly, Mandela - once considered the former terrorist commander in chief – won over his ancient enemies, the white Afrikaner population by utilizing the power of sport.
"Sport," Mandela said once, "has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, the power to unite people that little else has."
A spokesman for the flm said: "Through the epic tournament of 1995, the Human Factor reveals the essence of Mandela’s genius and illustrates more vividly the success of his heroic quest: to deliver democracy to South Africa by peaceful means."
Freeman and McCreary traveled to South Africa last year to discuss the project with Mandela. Speaking about the project, Freeman said: "I have known Nelson Mandela personally for quite some time, and am continually in awe of his enormous presence in the world. The opportunity to portray him in this film is a great honor."
Freeman’s business partner Lori McCreary will produce the film through Revelations Entertainment along with producer Mace Neufeld, who previously worked with Freeman on Sum Of All Fears.
The script has been written by South African Tony Peckham (Don't Say A Word), based on John Carlin’s upcoming book, The Human Factor: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Changed the World.
