Abstract
In December 1984, the made-for-television film Solomon Northup’s Odyssey appeared on public television. Based on Northup’s 1853 narrative Twelve Years a Slave and funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, it was directed and scored by the legendary Gordon Parks and featured Avery Brooks in the lead role of Solomon Northup. Following its initial debut as part of PBS’s American Playhouse series, the film met with positive reviews. Almost three decades later, Solomon Northup’s story has again been depicted on film. 12 Years a Slave—directed by Steve McQueen, written by John Ridley, and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon Northup—has become one of the most widely discussed films of the year. Critics have hailed it as the most powerful cinematic depiction of slavery ever made, in large part because of its emotionally demanding and visually stunning retelling of Northup’s story of being kidnapped as a free man, sold into slavery, and enduring twelve years of servitude in Louisiana.