Telluride at Dartmouth: "12 Years a Slave"
Steve McQueen directs this true-life story of a 19th-century freeman (Chiwetel Ejiofor) kidnapped and sold into slavery, also starring Michael Fassbender and Brad Pitt.
Director Steve McQueen follows the acclaimed Hunger and Shame with this shocking, true-life story of a 19th-century freeman kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Deep South. The enormously talented Chiwetel Ejiofor (Children of Men) plays Solomon Northrup, a New Yorker abducted and sent to a New Orleans plantation in 1841. His owner (Michael Fassbender) is cruelty personified and Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his harrowing odyssey, a chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist (Brad Pitt) changes everything. Based on Northrup’s 1853 autobiography, 12 Years boasts all-star support from Paul Giamatti, Paul Dano, Alfre Woodard and Benedict Cumberbatch. (UK, 2013, 134m) Courtesy of Fox Searchlight
