Video: Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom: first trailer starring Idris Elba The biopic stars Luther's Idris Elba as Nelson Mandela, the former South African President and iconic anti-apartheid revolutionary. The trailer shows a simple aerial shot of Elba's Mandela walking across a rural landscape with running children. Elba is already being tipped for an Oscar nomination for his performance in the film, which is based on Mandela's own autobiographical book, Long Walk To Freedom, published in 1994. The film is directed by Justin Chadwick and stars Skyfall's Naomie Harris as Mandela's former wife Winnie. The film opens in UK cinemas on January 3, 2014. Mandela, now 94, is undergoing treatment in hospital for a lung infection. He is reported to be in a critical but stable condition.