Invictus

Invictus is a2009 biographical drama film based on Nelson Mandela's life during the 1995 Rugby World Cup in  South Africa. Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film stars Morgan Freeman as South African President Mandela and Matt Damon as François Pienaar, the South African team captain. The story is based on the John Carlin book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation.

The title comes from the fact that Mandela had the poem "Invictus" written on a scrap of paper on his prison cell while he was incarcerated. In the movie, Mandela gives the "Invictus" poem to his national rugby team's captain François Pienaar before the start of the Rugby World Cup. In reality, Mandela provided Pienaar with an extract fromTheodore Roosevelt 's "The Man in the Arena" speech from 1910.

The film tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team to help unite their country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's rugby team as they make their historic run to the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship match.