Confronting Race Head-on in 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen, 2013): Redefining the Contours of the Classic Biopic? by Anne-Marie Paquet-Deyris

“…In his successful 2013 cinematic release 12 Years a Slave, Steve McQueen circumvents the “great white narrative” by addressing race “head-on” instead of metaphorically, writing every character within their own racial background. …”
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“Queen of the fields”: Slavery’s Graphic Violence and the Black Female Body in 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen, 2013) by Hélène Charlery

“…This paper examines Steve McQueen’s strategy in 12 Years a Slave, which consists in filming the horrors of slavery through a narrative construction that mostly concerns Solomon Northup, a “temporary” slave who survives slavery, and a visual construction centered on Patsey, a “permanent” slave who is born and dies in slavery. …”
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From Uncle Tom to Nat Turner: An Overview of Slavery in American Film, 1903-2016 by Melvyn Stokes

“…This seemed to change in the second decade of the twenty-first century when three films—Lincoln (2012), Django Unchained (2012), and 12 Years a Slave (2013)—dealt critically with slavery while also attracting a mass audience. …”
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