Interview: Director Steve McQueen And Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor On '12 Years A Slave' : NPR

Interview: Director Steve McQueen And Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor On '12 Years A Slave' : NPR: Solomon Northup was born free in early 19th-century upstate New York. He lived the life of a respected and elegant musician until 1841, when he was lured South by the promise of a lucrative stint playing his fiddle in a traveling circus.

In Washington, D.C. — in the shadow of the Capitol — Northup was drugged. When he came to, he was in chains: a slave headed for the hellish world of plantation life. Only the hope of being reunited with his beloved wife and children kept him going.

In the new film Twelve Years A Slave, British director Steve McQueen tells the largely forgotten, true story of Northup's capture, struggle and eventual freedom. McQueen is also known for provocative films like Hunger, about a hunger strike at a prison in Northern Ireland.