A first glimpse of a controversial biopic about South Africa's Winnie Mandela which promises to restore her reputation as Mother of the Nation has been provided by the leaking of the official trailer on the Internet.

"Winnie" is due for release next year and stars American actress Jennifer Hudson in the lead role. It tells the story of struggle veteran Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's journey from rural childhood to Johannesburg social worker to wife of one of the world's most famous men.

Directed by South African Darrell Roodt and based on Anna Marie du Preez Bezdrob's biography "Winnie Mandela: A Life", it first made the headlines when Mrs Madikizela-Mandela threatened to sue unless she was allowed to see the script.

There were fears that the film would boost the negative image of the woman who once notoriously declared that "with our boxes of matches and our necklaces, we shall liberate this country" - a reference to the placing of fuel-filled tyres around the necks of suspected apartheid informers....