idris elba gets personal in documentary 'mandela, my dad and me'

IDRIS ELBA AT THE NATIONAL FILM THEATRE, LONDON

A few days ago acclaimed Golden Globe Award winning actor Idris Elba attended the world premiere screening of his new and highly personal documentary, 'Mandela, My Dad And Me' at the National Film Theatre in London. This intimate film, which runs just under an hour, captures an important period in Elba's life and only really came about due to the precarious nature life itself has of delivering extreme highs and lows, at times seemingly in the same moment.. In the actor's case, after finally achieving major success on the small screen with HBO's biting drama, 'The Wire', soon following this up with major Hollywood roles, Elba met his ultimate challenge of portraying South African leader and worldwide icon Nelson Mandela in the movie 'Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom' with resounding triumph. While still filled with the spirit and emotion of playing the beloved statesman, Elba decided to combine his deep and lifelong passion of music (for many years he has been, and continues to be a dj), along with his strong connection to his own family's African roots by deciding to travel to South Africa and record an album under the title of 'mi Mandela'. However, just before embarking on his journey, tragedy struck. His father died, causing the actor to shelve all plans for the record. While grieving for the man who he so greatly admired and was influenced by, Elba undertook some serious soul searching and came to the conclusion his father would not want his son to dismiss his plans and just wallow in his sad passing. No, on the contrary, he would want him to continue his journey to fruition. This was the moment Idris Elba knew he would not only make the album, but he would also document the event on film, in honour of his father. Thus, 'Mandela, My Dad And Me' was born.

By his own admission, as he freely admitted to the audience at the screening, Elba was not a trained musician, but felt the joyous obsession and passion for music gave him the confidence of taking on the task of producing a worthwhile record. In fact he stated he could quite easily talk for much longer on the subject of music rather than his chosen profession of acting. He knew in his head in what path he wanted his 'labour of love' to travel, with the love of his father firmly in the mix. As seen in the documentary, his love of music sprang from his family environment and especially from his father who was quite clearly a charismatic figure (there is great footage of the man holding court at a party). It is no stretch to imagine this is where Elba gets the smooth charm he so effortlessly exerts to people around him, which is particularly telling as in the film on several occasions we witness this charm being used in order for Elba to achieve his desired goal, be it to get an artist to contribute to the album or quelling what could soon be a full blown argument in the recording studio. Indeed, Elba definitely had his work out for him, coming from a position which meant the thought from some quarters being "Here comes another hot celebrity actor 'playing' at being a musician."  He arrived in South Africa with a small close knit musical crew and then set about employing local musicians in order to obtain that authentic sound he so wanted. Some of the doubters of Elba's genuine sincerity could be found among this number, sensing this actor could just be cashing in on the strength of the mantle of the Mandela name. Soon all such doubts would be laid to rest. 

IDRIS ELBA IN CONVERSATION WITH THE MAIL'S BAZ BAMIGBOYE AT THE NFT, LONDON

Elba had the arduous task of making the album at the same time travelling far and wide to promote 'Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom'. Catching these moments on film fell to BAFTA Award winning director Daniel Vernon who followed the actor for a year. His original brief was to be a straight documentation of the recording sessions. Now with actor having to deal with the death of his father and incorporate this into his music, the film takes on a deeper weight, as we observe Elba up close and personal, giving it a far more truthful flavour. This does not come across as an official spin-off from 'mi Mandela' the album, rather a man working through his feelings and emotions while dealing with all around him. In fact while going through his own inner turmoil, he kept his outward persona so cool, he was seen to be the calming influence whenever any disharmony  appeared during the recording sessions, and there were a couple of instances, to his and the director's credit, which appear in the film. That charm of his kept him in good stead, enabling him to get not only established South African artists to come on board, but also new younger talent. On completion of the album, recorded in the hot, charged climate of Africa, we see (a somewhat anxious) Elba deliver a sales pitch for 'mi Mandela' to the record company 'suits' back in grey-ish London. To their credit the company bought the concept and the album. Success indeed for the East End boy, who did what he set out to do. Produce and release an album honouring both the memory of Nelson Mandela and (closer to home), his father.

In all I found 'Mandela, My Dad And Me' to be a very interesting look at Idris Elba, giving us a glimpse of the man behind the persona. Something that in these days of 'reality TV overkill with it's scripted elements, makes it refreshing viewing. The film contains some touching, poignant moments and some quite humourous exchanges. Overall I found Elba's desire to show himself warts and all to be endearing, especially as such a time as this when I am sure the last thing you would want is a camera in your face. I believe it was the unconditional love he had for his father (and family) which spurred him on to complete the project. In my opinion a beautiful ode to his dad.