This month Montblanc hosted the international premiere of the Power of Words film project at the Inner City Auditorium in Cape Town, South Africa, in partnership with Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) and the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

The Power of Words project brings together a new generation of filmmakers through the iconic words of this visionary leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

This month Montblanc hosted the international premiere of the Power of Words film project at the Inner City Auditorium in Cape Town, South Africa, in partnership with Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) and the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

Co-host for the evening was Miss Caroline Rupert, daughter of businessman Johan Rupert who owns the Montblanc brand and an intimate selection of international guests including members of Tribeca Film Institute and the editor of Revolution watch magazine, Jack Forster, flew in for the event.

This initiative inspires filmmakers to explore the written legacy of influential figures as a source of story and using film as a tool of education.

In its inaugural year, the series takes a look at the teachings and writings of Nelson Mandela as inspiration for story.

Five filmmaker teams interpreted a selection of Nelson Mandela’s quotes through film, shooting and editing five short narrative films based on the South African leader’s words.

Mandela and Montblanc: A Special Bond

Special guest contributor artist and world-renowned photojournalist Steve McCurry has translated Mandela’s words into images, creating a specially curated photography exhibition inspired by the project that will open in 2015 at the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

The screening was attended by participating directors Nabil Elderkin, Zippy Kimundu and Hank Willis Thomas.Following the screening, a dinner was held at Tintswalo, the idyllic lodge nestled on the Atlantic Ocean shore.

The Power of Words project was first launched by Montblanc in April 2013. In Partnership with Times Square Alliance, a short film video directed by Nabil Elderkin was projected in New York’s iconic Times Square every night shortly before midnight for a month.

The Power of Words project brings together a new generation of filmmakers through the iconic words of this visionary leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, using his legendary and most powerful words in feature short films that interpret and give new meaning to his legacy and vision.,

The film was a compilation of the South African leader’s written words, celebrating his peaceful vision in the form of a captivating and dynamic art installation.

During their stay in South Africa, Power of Words guests were also invited to visit Robben Island, the prison made famous by Mandela, where he spent 18 of his 27 years of imprisonment.

It was in his small cell that Mandela continued to harness the power of words, secretly writing the pages of his autobiography, dedicated himself to study, and encouraged other inmates to learn to read and write.

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