CAS Film Screening and Panel Discussion: "The Trials of Winnie Mandela"

As part of Worldwide Week at Harvard, the Harvard University Center for African Studies Africa Office will host a special screening of an abridged version of The Trials of Winnie Mandela, a new Netflix documentary series examining the life, political legacy, and contested memory of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring a member of the Mandela family, a producer of the documentary series, and Harvard faculty experts on gender and African politics.

More than three decades after South Africa’s transition to democracy, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela remains one of the most debated figures in the country’s political history. A central leader in the anti-apartheid struggle, she became a highly visible symbol of resistance during Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment. Yet her legacy has also been shaped by controversy, political marginalization, and competing interpretations of her role in South Africa’s liberation movement and democratic transition.

The documentary revisits these tensions through Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s own account of her political life, including her belief that she was sidelined by the African National Congress after playing a major role in the struggle against apartheid.

The discussion will use her story as a starting point for a broader conversation about women and political leadership in Africa. How does gender shape who is recognized as a revolutionary and who gains access to political power? How are African women leaders remembered, judged, or excluded from dominant historical narratives? And what new possibilities are emerging for young women shaping African politics today?

About Worldwide Week at Harvard

Worldwide Week at Harvard: October 11–17, 2026

Worldwide Week at Harvard showcases the breadth of the university's global engagement. Throughout the week, Harvard Schools, research centers, departments, and student organizations host academic and cultural events with global and international themes, including lectures, performances, receptions, exhibitions, and community gatherings across campus and around the world.