For weeks now, the Toronto International Film Festival has been previewing the large lineup of movies that would be shown during the festival. Everything from John Turturro’s racy Fading Gigolo to one of Cory Monteith’s last movie roles (McCanick). The long festival came to an end this weekend, and the Toronto International Film Festival chose several movies to honor with awards.
The biggest award of the festival, the People’s Choice Award (branded by BlackBerry this year), went to the period drama 12 Years a Slave. Set in the 1840s and 50s, the movie is based on the true story of Solomon Northup. Northup was born free in New York but was kidnapped and sold into slavery.
Chiwetel Ejiofor (of Serenity fame) plays Northup, and is joined by some of modern Hollywood’s biggest male stars. Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Michael K. Williams, and Benedict Cumberbatch all make appearances in the movie. Young Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) even makes an appearance in the feature.
During the 12 Years a Slave panel at the Toronto International Film Festival, director Steve McQueen and actors from the movie chatted about the themes of the flick, as well as the state of race in America. The panel, seen below, is preceded by the trailer for the movie: