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Steve McQueen’s “Twelve Years a Slave” Wins Best Picture Oscar

By March 3, 2014No Comments

 

Steve McQueen’s “Twelve Years a Slave” Wins Best Picture Oscar

Above: Steve McQueen

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Grenada has an Oscar.

United Kingdom-born Steve McQueen’s film, “Twelve Years a Slave,” took home the Academy Award for Best Picture on Sunday evening.

McQueen, whose parents were Grenadian (although his mother was born in Trinidad), was the director and a producer on the film, which told the true story of how New York-resident Solomon Northrup was kidnapped and sold as a slave in the American South.

McQueen gave the acceptance speech for the award, following a brief introduction by co-producer Brad Pitt.

The film, based on Northrup’s memoir, “Twelve Years a Slave,” has grossed more than $50 million in the United States and almost 90 million abroad.

McQueen, a rising star in Hollywood, is the director of acclaimed films including Hunger and Shame.

Earlier in the weekend, McQueen won the Independent Spirit award for Best Director.

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IBW21 (The Institute of the Black World 21st Century) is committed to enhancing the capacity of Black communities in the U.S. and globally to achieve cultural, social, economic and political equality and an enhanced quality of life for all marginalized people.