12 Years a Slave

In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.

On June 19, people celebrate a complex date. There’s the power, joy, and creativity of generations, and there’s the pain, hate, and violence of centuries.

British director Steve McQueen had been toying with the idea of writing a script about slavery, featuring a black man who had been born free and later forced into slavery. He couldn't find the right angle and script until his wife found Solomon Northup's biography and gave it to him to read.