Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave has been named the best-reviewed independent film of the year. When the film was released in September many critics claimed it was the best picture of 2013, so there is no surprise the film is a front-runner at the 2014 Oscars.
Based on the book Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, the film follows Northup, a free black man in New York, who was abducted in Washington D.C and sold into slavery. An all-star cast of Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti, Paul Dano, Quvenzhané Wallis and Sara Paulson star in the film.
12 Years A Slave has already been awarded Best Film from Boston Society of Film Critics, Washington D.C Film Critics Association and New York Film Critics online. Meanwhile, the L.A Film Critics Association went in a different direction and awarded Gravity, also an Oscar front-runner, as their Best Film.
A full list of the 2014 Oscar nominations will be announced on January 16th with the awards ceremony following on March 2, 2014.
