Watch Nelson Mandela

Made during Nelson Mandela's 25th prison term, Mandela is a movie made for television that covers the years leading up to human-rights advocate's life until the year the film was made, 1987. It's a biographical film with dramatic elements that aims to demonstrate the struggles that Nelson Mandela stood up to face. The film documents Mandela's life in a more personal light, starting from when he was but a young lawyer. It shows how Mandela went from someone who believed with all his heart that nonviolent protest would persevere to a fervent and almost violent wind working to reform a oppressive society ruled by an even more violent government.

The film progresses to document the changes that Mandela was forced to endure, especially those that occurred after the Sharpeville massacre of 1960. It shows how Mandela passed on the torch to his wife Winnie, whom continued for years to carry out Mandela's quest to change a white-dominated society that looked down on everyone else.

The main draw of Mandela is that it provides a biographical understanding of Mandela's life while showing the personal relationships and experiences that shaped him into the man he would later become. Mandela was filmed in Zimbabwe using real locations are backdrops.