Sunday, 23 August marks the International Day for Remembrance of Slave Trade and its Abolition 2015. It has been created by the United Nations to think about the historic causes, the methods and the consequences of slave trade. People around the world commemorate the day by organising events and performances that portray the resistance against slavery.
We have compiled a list of movies that deal with the subjects of racism and slavery to commemorate the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition 2015:
- Django Unchained (2012): The Quentin Tarantino film set in the Old West stars Academy Award winner Jamie Fox as the titular character. It follows Fox's character and Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) who bounty hunt together and become friends in a world where Black people were treated like dirt.
- 12 Years a Slave (2013): The period drama film follows Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who was a New York State-born free man, but was kidnapped in Washington, D.C., in 1841 and sold into slavery. Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Lupita Nyong'o, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, and Alfre Woodard play supporting cast in the Academy Award-winning film.
- Lincoln (2012): The American epic drama film starring Daniel Day-Lewis as the former US president Abraham Lincoln, portrays the President's move to abolish slavery in the U.S. by urging Congress to pass the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution following the end of the American Civil War.
- Amazing Grace (2006): The American-British biographical drama depicts William Wilberforce's campaign against slave trade in the British Empire. Wilberforce is credited with steering anti-slave trade legislation through the British parliament
- Enslavement: The True Story of Fanny Kemble (2000): The TV film starring Jane Saymour depicts the life of British actress Fanny Kemble, who sees the horrible fate of the slaves that work for her husband, an American plantation owner. The diaries that the real-life character Kemble published are said to have influenced the British government's decision to withhold support of the Confederacy during the American Civil War.