Preview – “I Am Slave” (Isaach de Bankolé Tackles Slave Trade)
From the producer of The Last King Of Scotland, Andrea Calderwood, comes I Am Slave, directed by Gabriel Range, whose last film, Death of a President, from 2006, caused quite a bit of controversy thanks to its fictional account of an assassination of then president, George W. Bush.
I Am Slave, said to be inspired by real life events, is a thriller centered on London’s present-day slave trade, and stars Isaach de Bankolé, as a Sudanese father, whose young daughter is captured and sold to a wealthy Arab family, sent to London to work, unseen, trapped, without money, and no passport, behind the gates of their home, as her father desperately searches for her.
It screens at next month’s Toronto International Film Festival. And, while I tend to be weary of films like these, that show what I feel is a limited POV of Africa and its people (see The Danger Of A Single Story), especially when they are made by whites, I’m a big fan of Isaach de Bankolé’s work, and I’d welcome any opportunity to see him on screen, given that we get so few chances, especially here in the States.
I couldn’t find a trailer, but below is a clip from the film:
via shadowandact.com