For the past three years, Luthanda Films’ Mandy Jacobson, a multiple award-winning documentary filmmaker, has been working on a feature film based on the life and times of Mariam Makeba, the Songbird who brought African music to the world.
“My obsession with Miriam Makeba goes back three years, to the time I was given a biography that details her life, The Miriam Makeba Story. I am both delighted and terrified at the enormity of the challenge I am faced with: to produce a feature film based on the life and times of Mama Afrika, the inimitable Miriam Makeba,’ Jacobson says..
Jacobson, who has been working out of New York and South Africa for more than a decade, won two Emmy awards as producer and director of Calling the Ghosts: A Film About Rape, War and Women In Bosnia (HBO/Cinemax).
The projected start date for the film is October 2009. Executive producer of the Miriam Makeba Feature Film Project (MMFP) is David Dison.
Mandy Jacobson, Luthanda Films and the producers of the Miriam Makeba Feature Project have extended the following personal tribute to Miriam Makeba who passed away in Italy on 10 November 2008.
“Thank you Mama Africa for the trail that you blazed, for putting Africa on the map and for giving us a face and a place on the international stage. In spite of your own adversity, your hope, song and sheer determination conspired to make you an international icon. Thank you for allowing my team access to turn your story into a feature film. May you guide us to shine a light on your eternal legacy.’
