The 90-second film, 'Mandela's Walk' is hosted on Economist.com and highlights the magazine’s coverage of Mandela and South Africa over the years.
It honours Mandela, who died last week. He was celebrated as an anti-apartheid campaigner, who became South Africa's president and a symbol of human rights around the world. Mandela read The Economist during his18 years in prison on Robben Island.
The film title references Mandela’s well-known quote, "I have walked that long road to freedom", and his autobiography ,which is called ‘Long Walk to Freedom.’
The voiceover, performed by British poet Benjamin Zephaniah, begins: "On the long walk that is life, a man discovers who he is."
The film shows a group of people walking into a field, holding objects such as photos, a doll, placards and flowers, which they lay on the ground. The camera then pans out to reveal the objects create a large image, which forms Nelson Mandela’s face.
At the end of the film, users can explore the individual objects, which link to a selection of articles from The Economist archives covering different events in Mandela’s life. The film was shot in the UK.
Susan Clark, chief marketing officer of The Economist, said: "The fact that Nelson Mandela read The Economist during his time at Robben Island is something that we are particularly proud of and this video is a way for us to pay tribute to him and his life."
Ian Pearman, chief executive of AMV BBDO, said: "Nelson Mandela’s story is incredibly inspiring and we wanted to work with The Economist to produce a fitting tribute to his achievements."
The creative team at AMV BBDO was Mark Fairbanks and Thiago de Moraes. The film was directed by Anders Jedenfors at Acne Production.
The full interactive film can be watched at
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