12 Years a Slave (2013)
Directed by Steve McQueen

Film Synopsis

America, 1841.  Solomon Northup is a black violinist who lives with his family in Saratoga Springs, New York.  Lured by the promise of work in Washington DC, Northup is abducted by two white men, Brown and Hamilton, who sell him into slavery.  Shipped to New Orleans, Northup is bought by plantation owner William Ford, and then sold on to another slave owner, Edwin Epps.  When his cotton crop fails, Epps loans Northup out to another plantation owner, Judge Turner, who gives the slave a small sum of money to play the violin at a neighbour's wedding.  With this money, Northup attempts to get a letter to his friends in New York via a white field hand.  The latter betrays Northup and the prospect of him returning to his former life is further away than ever...