UN Movie Society - Featuring South Africa’s Oscar submission: THE HEART IS A MUSCLE | Mandela Day

On Saturday, 18 July 2026, on Nelson Mandela International Day, the UN Movie Society of the United Nations Staff Recreation Council is honoured to present a special conversation with lead actor Keenan Arrison on THE HEART IS A MUSCLE — South Africa's official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards, and winner of the Ecumenical Jury Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Directed by Imran Hamdulay, the film is a portrait of inherited trauma, the slow courage of forgiveness, and what it means to be a father — themes that speak directly to the values at the heart of the United Nations: the protection of human rights, the pursuit of reconciliation, and the belief that vulnerability is not weakness, but strength. As the film reminds us — and as Mandela showed the world — it is in choosing to break the cycle, to forgive, and to rise, that our common humanity is most fully expressed.

Opening remarks will be delivered by H.E. Mr. Mxolisi Nkosi, Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations; Mbongiseni Buthelezi, CEO of the Nelson Mandela Foundation; and Ndaba Mandela, Founder and Chairman of the Mandela Institute for Humanity.

Cinema holds the unique power to illuminate the universal ideals enshrined by the United Nations — peace, human rights, cultural dignity, and equal rights for all. Founded at United Nations Headquarters by Brenda Vongova, the UN Movie Society is committed to championing the goals and values of the United Nations through the universal language of motion pictures.

Learn more about Mandela Day at the United Nations:
https://www.un.org/en/events/mandeladay/