Even eight years after his death, Hollywood’s connection to Nelson Mandela is strong. In 2013, the year of his passing, the late South African leader was the subject of Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom starring Idris Elba in the title role. A few months later the love story between Mandela and his wife Winnie was featured in  Winnie Mandela, starring Terrence Howard and Jennifer Hudson. At the time longtime member and former HFPA president Dr. Aida Takla O’Reilly recalled the time Mandela met the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. We repost her recollection here on this Mandela Day.

I had once the great honor of meeting President Nelson Mandela and having a conversation with him. In 1995, the Hollywood Foreign Press presented Mandela with a glass plaque in appreciation for his relentless fight for freedom. Mandela had come to Washington DC for the premiere of Cry, the Beloved Country based on the Alan Paton novel. HFPA member Ahmed Lateef facilitated the making of the glass statuette for his peace effort. It was inscribed to Nelson Mandela from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for his Peace Fight. Several of us attended the premiere, which opened with First Lady Hillary Clinton, who introduced Nelson Mandela. Mandela was received with a standing ovation lasting at least five minutes. After the screening, there was a reception. We asked if we could present Mandela with our token of appreciation and the producer agreed with two conditions. Only one person could be in the private room, and there were to be no camera flashes since his eyes were sensitive. And the meeting could be no more than five minutes. Since I was the President then, I had the honor to present the plaque to Mandela on behalf of the HFPA. He received me with a charming smile and pointed at the heavy piece of glass I was carrying and said ‘this is bigger than you.’ I gave him the plaque on behalf of the members and told him about the Association and that one of our members was from South Africa (Phil). He asked where I was from and I said Egypt. We had a pleasant exchange about our countries and joked about the British colonial dream of ‘the Cape to Cairo Railroad.” He told me that the Egyptian Minister of External Affairs visited him in jail as representative of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) but he did not say why. I said ‘Yes, I know who and I know why visited you. He happened to be my uncle, and he came to offer you freedom on the condition that you say that all is well in the country. But you turned the offer down and your answer was ‘but all is not well in the country.’” He was surprised, offered me a smile, hugged me, and left. At the end of dinner, I intercepted his exit to introduce some HFPA members to him. He was gracious with everyone. Armand Gallo, managed in his inimitable way to take a picture of us surrounding him.