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Tag: Chiwetel Ejiofor

  • Chiwetel Ejiofor Wins The BAFTA For Best Actor

    Though he has lost every other award leading up to the BAFTA Film Awards, Chiwetel Ejiofor was able to take home that prize for Best Actor. The awards were presented last night in London, and offered film fans a handful of surprises.

    Ejiofor won the Best Actor award for the first time this season, while Barkhad Abdi from Captain Phillips, also won Best Supporting Actor for the first time, which were two of the biggest surprises of the night. Gravity also took home several awards, and may take some of that momentum into the upcoming Academy Awards.

    Chiwetel Ejiofor won the award for his portrayal of Solomon Northup in 12 Years A Slave. The film is a chilling tale of a free black man who is forced into slavery for 12 years, and the outrageous things that he is forced to endure.

    The film is directed by Steve Mcqueen, a black man who is a native of Britain, and wanted to bring the real life story of Solomon Northup to the knowledge of everyone. In addition to Ejiofor, the film is host to a number of Hollywood stars including Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Paul Giamatti, Paul Dano, Benedict Cumberbatch, and others.

    The film also welcomes newcomer Lupita Nyong’o to the scene, and while she was also nominated for a BAFTA, Jennifer Lawrence won the award for her role in American Hustle.

    Chiwetel Ejiofor drew huge cheers when he went up to the podium to accept his award, and after losing at the Golden Globe Awards, Critics Choice Film Awards, and the SAG Awards, he may have thought that his time would not come during this year’s award season. In addition to Ejiofor’s Best Actor win, 12 Years A Slave won the award for Best Film.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlacSgyhSr4

    He has had a tough time in previous award shows, and continues to do so because of the stiff competition that he faces this year. 2013 was a strong year for film, and it continues to show, since no film or actor seems to have emerged as a front-runner yet. The Academy Awards is only two weeks away.

    At the BAFTA Awards, McConaughey was eliminated from the competitive field, but in order to earn the award, Ejiofor had to beat out veterans Christian Bale, Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Bruce Dern.

    Leonardo DiCaprio gave a sweet tribute to Bruce Dern during his Golden Globes acceptance speech, and during last night’s awards show, he can be seen giving Ejiofor a standing ovation.

    The acting awards have been split between Leonardo DiCaprio, Matthew McConaughey, and Chiwetel Ejiofor so far, and any of them could get the Oscar, and possibly even someone else.

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  • 12 Years A Slave Has A Significant Connection To Canada

    Those who have seen the film 12 Years A Slave already know of the important character that appears late in the film from Canada, but probably do not know the story behind him.

    Samuel Bass, played by Brad Pitt, shows up toward the end of the film, and is the key figure in helping Solomon Northrup finally become a free man again.

    12 Years A Slave is likely to receive several award nominations, and already receiving a great amount of attention from film critics.

    The film tells the real-life story of Solomon Northup, a free man from Saratoga Springs, NY, who is sold into slavery, and forced to work on southern plantations. In the film, he is played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, a role that will likely get him several award nominations. It is also very disturbing, and used to depict the many horrors of slavery.

    The film features a significant connection to Canada that most people are probably not aware of yet. The information has Bass’ descendants overjoyed with pride, after it was kept from them for such a long time. Laurie Morris, a 50-year-old whose mother is a descendant of Bass’ youngest daughter Hannah said of the relationship, “The movie is about Solomon Northup, right? But we would never have heard of him, I guess, if he hadn’t met my great-great-great-great-grandfather.”

    The ironic part of it is that before 12 Years A Slave was released, Morris and her family did not even know of their connection to the man who helped Solomon Northup to freedom. In a chance encounter while working on the plantation that Solomon lived, Samuel Bass, a Canadian carpenter, was able to contact his friends in the north,and vouch for Solomon’s identity.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjwptdtn9fQ

    Part of the reason that his story did not come out until many years later is that Bass left Canada sometime around 1840, just before the movie takes place, when he took a variety of carpentry jobs throughout the United States. He also left his wife and four daughters, which might be why he was barely talked about in the family.

    In preparation for the filming and research on 12 Years A Slave, David Fiske, a historian and author, was able to trace Bass back to southern Ontario. The connection was made through Solomon Northup’s Twelve Years a Slave and Plantation Life in the Antebellum South, a 2007 book by Sue Eakin.

    Upper Canada, which is now Ontario, abolished slavery just before Bass was born, and throughout his life, he was outspoken in his opposition to slavery, and strongly spoke out against the practice, despite having a different viewpoint from the majority of others.

    12 Years A Slave is being hailed as one of the best films of the year, and it helps to expose the real-life story of Solomon Northup, while also introducing Canadians to a long lost descendant, and very important figure.

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