British directer Steve McQueen says the story of his Oscar-winning film '12 Years A Slave' almost did not make it to the big screen as a lot of people did not want it to be made.
The slavery drama, based on the memoirs of Solomon Northrup, a free man who was sold into slavery and fought his way back, won the best picture Oscar this year. McQueen said a lot of people did not want it to be made, reported FT Weekend.
"A lot of people didn't want the movie made. Yes, because people want to close their eyes on some subjects. They want to keep on going, they don't want to look behind them," McQueen said.
But the director of films like 'Hunger' and 'Shame', says it was important to make the movie in Hollywood. McQueen feels the subject was not closely examined.
"I don't think people had looked into the subject matter very much, that relationship between slave and slave-owner. That is what I wanted to do. It is such a huge part of history, and there was a certain kind of examination or reflection it hadn't been given. It is very, very important to look back in order to move forward.
