Dara Kell (Co-director / Producer)

I was born in South Africa in 1980 and grew up during the height of popular protest against apartheid and the era of harsh repression that followed. Witnessing the birth of a new nation in my early teens sowed the seeds of my filmmaking career. I’m part of a generation of post-apartheid filmmakers who grapple with the hopes and disappointments of our diverse and emergent country. Dear Mandela is my first film, and it is the film that I was born to make. The young shack dwellers who are the stars of the film display many of the qualities that make Nelson Mandela such a great leader: pragmatic idealism, courage, humility. Dear Mandela is a testament to the hope that still survives among those whose spirits could otherwise have been broken. It is an ode to those who gave their lives for a new South Africa, and a love letter to my country.

Growing up in apartheid South Africa was claustrophobic and at times terrifying. Newscasters lied to us while people were being assassinated in the townships. Film is a way to break silence, to tell stories that would not otherwise get told. In 2004, I began collaborating with filmmaker and editor Christopher Nizza. Our long-term goal as filmmakers is to tell stories that confront the serious issues of our time, in a way that makes them accessible, moving and hopeful. It is our firm conviction that in order to have the greatest impact, our films must be innovative both in their approach to storytelling, and their visual treatment. With this in mind, we started Sleeping Giant, a New York-based production company. Dear Mandela is our first feature-length documentary.