Opening On Friday: 'Dear Mandela' (Friends Invoke Nelson Mandela & Become New-Gen Leaders)

The short story goes... When their shantytowns are threatened with mass eviction, three ‘young lions’ of South Africa’s new generation rise from the shacks and take their government to the highest court in the land, putting the promises of democracy to the test.

Dear Mandela follows their journey from their shacks to the highest court as they invoke Nelson Mandela's example and become leaders in a growing social movement.

By turns inspiring, devastating and funny, the film offers a new perspective on the role that young people can play in political change and is a fascinating portrait of South Africa coming of age.

Co-directed by award-winning South African filmmaker and editor Dara Kell, and Christopher Nizza, an Emmy Award-winning NYC filmmaker and editor, this is the pair's feature-length documentary debut.

It won Best South African Documentary at the Durban International Film Festival, the Movies That Matter Golden Butterfly award and most recently won the Grand Chameleon award at the Brooklyn Film Festival. It's also an African Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary.

I haven't seen it yet, but a screener is on the way, so I'll probably watch it this week, since I just learned that it'll be making its theatrical premiere this Friday, September 21 at Indiescreen, in Williamsburg (NYC); it'll have a 1-week run there, so if you're in NYC, and are at all interested in seeing it, you've got 1 week, starting this Friday.

Watch the trailer below: