12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave is a 2013 biographical drama film directed by Steve McQueen from a screenplay by John Ridley, based on Solomon Northup's 1853 slave memoir Twelve Years a Slave, about a free African-American man from New York State who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Washington, D.C. by two conmen in 1841. Before being liberated, Northup was forced to work on Louisiana plantations for 12 years. Sue Eakin and Joseph Logsdon co-edited the first scholarly version of Northup's memoir in 1968, painstakingly retracing and validating the story and concluding that it was factual.

12 Years a Slave is based on Solomon Northup's 1853 memoir and covers his journey from his birth as a free Black man in New York to his capture and enslavement in 1841. With this period of drama, director Steve McQueen became the first Black filmmaker to win Best Picture.

The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards, with Ridley winning Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Nyong'o winning Best Supporting Actress at the 86th Academy Awards. McQueen became the first black British producer to win the prize, as well as the first black British director of the Best Picture winner, with the Best Picture triumph. The film received the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, as well as BAFTA Awards for Best Film and Best Actor for Ejiofor from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

Detailed information:

Release date: Oct 18, 2013 (United States)
Director: Steve McQueen
Gross revenue: $187.70 million
Story by: Solomon Northup, John Ridley

Link to watch: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2024544