ACCLAIMED preacher, president and chief executive of TDJ Enterprises, Bishop TD Jakes, has given two locally brewed feature films a shot in the arm.

Jakes has signed on as an executive producer of Winnie, the untold love story of Winnie and Nelson Mandela, and the recently released A Million Colours.

The two films have just been released at cinemas throughout South Africa.

Winnie stars Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson and Academy Award nominee Terrance Howard.

The recently released A Million Colours is the opening film at the 2012 Hollywood Black Film Festival.

TDJ Enterprises will help develop American marketing and distribution channels for both films.

Andre Pieterse, chief executive of Ma-Afrika Films, said the TDJ brand and its attachment elevated the films to the status to which the creative team and cast had aspired during production.

Jakes said Winnie was a sensitive and balanced portrayal that examined the controversies and conquests in the life of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

"It also explores in a way that no other film has, the nature of love and relationships in the midst of political turmoil and struggle under the apartheid."

Hudson said she was compelled and moved by the script.

"Winnie Mandela is a complex and extraordinary woman and I'm honoured to be the actress asked to portray her," she said.

Hudson confined herself day and night to the prison set where scenes were shot depicting Madikizela-Mandela's 500-plus days in solitary confinement.

She said she "wanted to experience some of the hell that woman went through".

"They snatched her out of her home and she had no idea what happened to her children. This was real.

"As a woman, I am angry for her, hurting for her," Hudson said.

The leading cast is supported by Canadian actors Elias Koteas, Wendy Crewson and a group of South African cast and crew.

The film features the title song Bleed for Love, performed by Hudson accompanied by the Soweto Gospel Choir.