More than 70 hours of rare, previously unreleased audio recordings of Nelson Mandela form the basis for a new documentary titled Troublemaker: The Story Behind the Mandela Tapes, which makes its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival’s Yarrow Theatre in Park City, Utah, in the US on Tuesday.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua (King Arthur, Olympus Has Fallen, Training Day) with executive producer Mac Maharaj and screenwriter Michael Toomey Mann, Troublemaker (named after the Xhosa translation of Mandela’s birth name, Rolihlahla) follows Mandela’s journey in his own words, from activist to his election as South Africa’s first black president — revealing the emotionally vulnerable side of Mandela that few have ever seen before, in his own words.
The documentary draws on the recordings Mandela made while writing his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, paired with first-hand accounts from Maharaj, archival footage and animated visuals by South African artist Thabang Lehobye.
It took three years to film and nearly a decade to create from concept to the finished product.
