Changing history with filmmaking: here are 10 movies you probably didn’t know were directed by black filmmakers

12 years a Slave

One interesting fact movie fanatics across the world didn’t know about the gripping feature 12 years a Slave is its representation of a true-life story. Another fact that is probably not known is how it was directed by British filmmaker, Steve McQueen. It starred Chiwetel Ejiofor, who played Solomon Northup, a free-born African American who was educated but captured and sold into slavery. The movie was an adaptation of Northup’s 1853 memoir which was one of the bestsellers of the 19^th century.