BET’s Madiba makes worldwide impact

Madiba features a star cast including Laurence Fishburne

Broadcasters in France, Africa and Asia are amongst those to have picked up Nelson Mandela miniseries Madiba ahead of what would have been the former South African president’s 100th birthday.

French operator Numéro 23, SBS in Australia and Discovery Networks in Africa, the Middle East and Turkey have all acquired the show, which was produced for BET in the US, from its distributor Dynamic Television.

C+ Overseas in French-speaking Africa, Fox Asia, Czech TV, OTE in Greece and DutchFilm Works in Benelux will also air the show.

The 6×52’ series premiered on BET last spring and is produced and financed by Toronto-based Blue Ice Pictures. South Africa’s Out of Africa Entertainment also produces in association with the UK’s Leftbank Pictures and LA-based Cinema Gypsy Productions.

The series is written by Paul Webb (Selma), Jane Maggs (The Offering, To the Teeth) Janine Eser and Kathleen McGhee-Anderson (The Fosters) and is sold globally by Dynamic Television.

It is directed by Kevin Hooks (Prison Break) and tells the tale of Mandela’s journey to bring racial equality and democracy to South Africa.

July marks what would have been the 100th birthday of Mandela, who died in 2013.