Managers of the Oscar-winner Hudson confirmed that she had been lined up to play Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in a new film on the ex-wife of South Africa's first black president, but the Creative Workers Union of South Africa said Monday that using foreign actors to tell their country's stories undermined efforts directed at developing the national film industry.

"It can't happen that we want to develop our own Hollywood and yet bring in imports", the union spokesman said.

Hudson, who scooped a best supporting actress Oscar in 2007 for the musical "Dreamgirls", landed the role of Madikizela-Mandela last month.

The film will be directed by South African film-maker Darrell J. Roodt, whose films include "Cry, the beloved country" and "Sarafina."

The criticism comes just days before the opening of the Clint Eastwood film "Invictus", a drama about Nelson Mandela and South Africa's 1995 rugby World Cup victory which united the nation.

Morgan Freeman plays the president and Matt Damon is the rugby team captain.

The Union criticizes casting of Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Hudson as Nelson Mandela and his ex-wife in separate films.

Madikizela-Mandela campaigned tirelessly for her husband's release during his 27-year imprisonment in the apartheid era.

However, her image was tarnished by a series of scandals including her links to the kidnap and murder of a young activist and a 2003 conviction for fraud; which contributed hugely to her separating from Nelson Mandela in 1992, two years after his release.

-APA