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Matt Glasby

Some films make history, others change it. Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave (2013) is one of the few that can claim to have done both.
Created by a largely British team, and released in the UK 10 years ago this month, it won three Oscars, including for best picture, making McQueen the first black filmmaker to receive the award.
It also opened the door for serious-minded examinations of the African-American experience such as Selma (2014) and Moonlight (2016).
“At that point,” McQueen told The New York Times, “there was no going back.”


As a young man, McQueen’s father had worked as an orange picker in Florida, in the United States, surviving a racist attack that saw two of his associates murdered.
McQueen grew up in London, becoming an acclaimed artist, and his first films, Hunger (2008) and Shame (2011), dealt directly with different kinds of suffering and injustice.

Next, he and scriptwriter John Ridley wanted to tackle slavery, but didn’t know where to start. Then McQueen’s wife, the filmmaker Bianca Stigter, came upon Solomon Northup’s Twelve Years a Slave, a shocking 1853 memoir that the director likened to Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl (1947), and they had their way in. Ridley, too, won an Oscar for his troubles.
Northup’s story is extraordinary – mostly because he lived to tell it – exposing the workings of the American slave trade from within.
In 1841, Northup (played in the film by British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor) was a free man living in Saratoga Springs, New York, with his wife, Anne (Kelsey Scott), and children, and making a living as a violinist.


While on a work trip to Washington, he was kidnapped, chained and sold into slavery in the Deep South, where he found himself at the mercy of a series of increasingly brutal masters (played by Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano and Michael Fassbender).
Eventually, with the help of a sympathetic carpenter (Brad Pitt, who also co-produced), he contrived his own escape, although no one was ever convicted for their crimes against him.
Shooting took place on four former plantations near New Orleans in temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
I wanted to hold people to account, to say, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute – this happened here’
Steve McQueen
“It was brutal,” said McQueen, who recalled horses passing out and squadrons of mosquitoes, “but you realise how people had to live in those conditions.”
For Ejiofor, the locations helped him access the past. “To know that we were right there in the place where these things occurred was so powerful and emotional,” he told the Daily News. “That feeling of dancing with ghosts – it’s palpable.”
But 12 Years a Slave is not about ghosts. It’s about real pain endured by real people, something McQueen refuses to cut away from.

After Northup is kidnapped and renamed against his will, his captor calls him the “n” word, then beats him until his club breaks, continuing, afterwards, with a whip. This occurs almost straight to camera, with Ejiofor’s face foremost in the frame.
From here, Northup’s descent into hell is assured. It’s also punctuated by the suffering of others, as we see slaves torn away from their children, abused, assaulted and murdered.
But the harder it is to watch, the more McQueen makes us. In one scene, Northup is half-lynched by the out-of-control Tibeats (Dano), then left to hang for several awful minutes as plantation life goes on around him, the shot barely changing until he’s cut free.

The most famous scene sees Patsey (Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o) whipped on the orders of her owner, and rapist, Epps (Fassbender).
Shot in just a few takes, with one camera, it’s an unforgettable scene, intimate and savage, with a furiously committed, career-making performance from Nyong’o.
“It was emotionally draining for everyone,” said cinematographer Sean Bobbitt, “but the idea was not to give the audience the chance to look away.” Instead, we’re forced to watch her agony up close, her face pressed tight to the corner of the screen, as her assailants swim in and out of focus behind.

After these outrages, Northup seems to stare through the screen at us, as if to say, “How did you let this happen?” Eventually, he frees himself with the help of Bass (Pitt).
As far as anyone can tell, this really happened, but it still drew – ungrounded – accusations that the film was perpetuating the white saviour myth.
Ultimately Northup is saved by luck, his wits and his determination not to be broken.
Why African-Americans latched on to films like Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury
“Days ago I was with my family, in my home,” he says at the start. “Now you tell me all is lost. ‘Tell no one who I really am’ if I want to survive – I don’t want to survive, I want to live!”
Beautifully acted, with strong technical specs, the film is, if anything, more remarkable as a political statement than a work of drama.
Arriving in the middle of Barack Obama’s presidency, a time of comparative hope for the country, it felt like a call for white America to reckon with its crimes.

“There was a certain sense of non-responsibility, like it was something deep in the past,” said McQueen. “I wanted to hold people to account, to say, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute – this happened here.’”
After the #BlackLivesMatter movement, the horrors of the Trump administration, and the murder of George Floyd, some would say it is still happening.


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Why Wim Wenders’ classic Paris, Texas, newly restored in 4K, still mesmerises 40 years on

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American cinema

How Steve McQueen’s Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave made a statement by not giving viewers ‘the chance to look away’ upon its release 10 years ago

Chiwetel Ejiofor in a still from “12 Years a Slave”. Steve McQueen’s Oscar-winning film – which turns 10 in January 2024 – about a man sold into slavery, gave an unflinching portrayal of African-American suffering to make a political statement. Photo: Francois Duhamel

McQueen on set during the making of “12 Years as a Slave”. Photo: courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures

McQueen and Brad Pitt with their Oscars for best picture for “12 Years a Slave” at the 2014 Academy Awards. Photo: Reuters

McQueen (centre) with producers (from left) Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Anthony Katagas and Brad Pitt with their awards for best film for “12 Years a Slave” at the 2014 Baftas. Photo: AFP

Benedict Cumberbatch and Chiwetel Ejiofor in a still from “12 Years a Slave”. 

Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender in a still from “12 Years a Slave”. Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Benedict Cumberbatch in a still from “12 Years a Slave”.

McQueen at the 2014 Baftas. Photo: Reuters

How Gillian Chung of Cantopop duo Twins survived the Edison Chen photo scandal to keep thriving as a singer and actress

Gillian Chung at an interview with the Post in 2009. Photo: SCMP

Gillian Chung at an interview with the Post in 2010. Chung, one half of Hong Kong’s Cantopop duo Twins, is now thriving as a singer and actress but the road to success – marred by a scandal involving intimate photos – has not been an easy one. Photo: SCMP

Charlene Choi (left), then 18, and Chung, 20, at an interview with the Post in 2001. Photo: SCMP

Choi and Chung perform on stage at HarbourFest in October, 2003. Photo: SCMP

Chung (left) in a still from “The Twins Effect” (2003).

Chung speaks at a press conference attended by more than 300 artists, legislators and supporters in Tseung Kwan O in 2006. Photo: SCMP

Chung (left) and Choi at the Asian Film Awards presentation ceremony in Wan Chai in 2007. Photo: SCMP

Chung was interviewed in March 2009 about the photos of her and Edison Chen. Photo: TVB

Chung at an interview with the Post in 2009. Photo: SCMP

Chung (left) and Choi of Twins meet their fans in March 2010 ahead of their reunion concert, titled “Bouncing Back”, at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Photo: SCMP

Chung and Michael Lai on their wedding day, with (back row from left) bridesmaids Yumiko Cheng, Joey Yung and Choi, in 2018. Photo: Instagram/@yungchoyee

Gillian Chung in a still from the film “Prison Flowers” (2023).

Gillian Chung (left) and Charlene Choi during preparations for their 2024 concert series. Photo: Instagram/@q_gill

How The Cursed Land, a new horror film on Thai Muslim culture, challenges typical media portrayals and lays bare Thailand’s social and political tensions

Jennis Oprasert (left) as May and Ananda Everingham as Mit in a still from “The Cursed Land”. Photo: courtesy of Panu Aree/Neramitnung Film.

Jennis Oprasert (left) and Ananda Everingham in a still from “The Cursed Land”. The new Thai-Malay language horror film explores Thai Muslim culture and Islamic beliefs. Photo: Courtesy of Panu Aree/Neramitnung Film

Panu Aree (centre) and Kong Rithdee (right) on the set of “The Cursed Land”. Photo: Courtesy of Panu Aree/Neramitnung Film

Ananda Everingham in a still from “The Cursed Land”. Photo: Courtesy of Panu Aree/Neramitnung Film

Bront Palarae (left), Ananda Everingham (centre) and Jennis Oprasert (second right) on the set of “The Cursed Land”. Photo: Courtesy of Panu Aree/Neramitnung Film

Jennis Oprasert (left) and Ananda Everingham in a still from “The Cursed Land”. Photo: Courtesy of Panu Aree/Neramitnung Film

(From left) Producer Nonzee Nimibutr, Ananda Everingham, Kong Rithdee and Panu Aree on the set of “The Cursed Land”. Photo: Courtesy of Panu Aree/Neramitnung Film

A still from “The Cursed Land”. Photo: Courtesy of Panu Aree/Neramitnung Film

2024 Emmy Awards: Succession, Beef and The Bear dominate with best drama, comedy and limited series honours and multiple awards for cast members

US actor Kieran Culkin reacts after winning best actor in a drama series for “Succession” during the 75th annual Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony. Photo: EPA-EFE

“Succesion” creator Jesse Armstrong and cast members celebrate after the HBO show won the Emmy Award for best drama series at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles, one of six awards it took home. “Beef” and “The Bear” were the other big winners. Photo: Reuters

Matthew Macfadyen poses with his Emmy for best supporting actor in a drama series for “Succession” backstage at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles. Photo: AFP

Jesse Armstrong accepts the Emmy for best writing for a drama series for “Succession”. Photo: AFP

Ali Wong (centre) accepts the Emmy Award for best lead actress in a limited series for “Beef”. Photo: Reuters

US actor Steven Yeun accepts the award for outstanding lead actor in a limited series for “Beef”. Photo: AFP

The cast and crew of “Beef” take the stage after winning the Emmy for best limited series. Photo: EPA-EFE

Cast members of “The Bear” pose with the Emmy Award for best comedy series. Photo: AFP

Quinta Brunson, winner of the prize for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series for “Abbott Elementary,” poses backstage at the Peacock Theatre, Los Angeles, during the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards. Photo: EPA-EFE

Jennifer Coolidge poses with the best supporting actress in a drama series award for “The White Lotus”. Photo: Reuters

Host Anthony Anderson speaks during the Emmy Awards ceremony. Photo: AP

John Oliver poses with the Emmy Awards for best scripted variety series and best writing for a variety series. Photo: Reuters

Trevor Noah and cast members pose with the Emmy for best talk series for “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”. Photo: Reuters

US actress Ariana DeBose (left) and British actress Hannah Waddingham arrive for the Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles. Photo: AFP

Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker arrive for the Emmy Awards ceremony. Photo: Reuters

Brian Cox and Nicole Ansari-Cox arrive for the Emmy Awards ceremony. Photo: EPA-EFE

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Steve McQueen’s adaptation of Solomon Northup’s 1853 memoir of a free man sold into slavery won three Academy Awards and made history when it came out in 2013
Featuring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lupita Nyong’o, the film went out of its way to make viewers watch as it showed the brutalisation of African Americans


12 Years a Slave, director Steve McQueen’s 2013 adaptation of a book about a man sold into slavery, gave an unflinching portrayal of abuses inflicted upon African Americans in the Antebellum South.
