The Hollywood Black Film Festival (HBFF) has announced that its 2013 Opening Night Film is Winnie Mandela, the Winnie Mandela biopic starring Jennifer Hudson as Winnie and Terrence Howard as Nelson Mandela.

An adaptation of Anné Mariè du Preez Bezdrob’s biography Winnie Mandela: A Life, the film explores the personal and political life of the wife of renowned activist and revered former South African President, Nelson Mandela, telling the story of her struggle for freedom during the Apartheid era.

The film attracted controversy before a single frame was shot, primarily over the casting of Hudson, and the lack of communication with, and input from the real Winnie Mandela.

Jasmin interviewed director Darrell Roodt, last year for S&A, and you’re strongly encouraged to read that interview HERE. In it, he addressed a lot of the questions many of you have had about the project since we first alerted you to it, like his reasons for casting Jennifer Hudson and Terrence Howard, the audience backlash against his casting choices, especially by South Africans, the real Winnie Mandela’s objections to the project, what we can expect from the film, and more.

Winnie Mandela opens HBFF on Wednesday, October 2 at 7PM at the Ricardo Montalban Theatre, 1615 Vine St., Hollywood, CA.