The critically-acclaimed drama “12 Years A Slave” opens Nov. 7 at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center. Also showing is “Wadjda,” the first feature film made by a female filmmaker from Saudia Arabia.
“Wadjda” is rated PG and plays through Nov. 14, while “12 Years A Slave” is rated R (scenes of strong violence and cruelty) and shows through Nov. 28.
In “12 Years A Slave,” Solomon Northrup (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a free black man from upstate New York who is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South in the years before the Civil War. Northrup is subjected to the cruelty of one malevolent owner (Michael Fassbender) and the unexpected kindness from another as he struggles to survive and maintain some of his dignity.
Finally, in the twelfth year of slavery, a chance meeting with an abolitionist from Canada changes Northrup’s life forever.
The film is directed by Steve McQueen.
“Wadjda,” a movie of firsts, tells the story of a young girl living in a suburb of Rihadh, Saudi Arabia, determined to raise enough money to buy a bicycle. She pursues her goal even though she lives in a society that sees bicycles as dangerous to a girl’s virtue.
The film is directed by Haifaa Al Mansour, the first female filmmaker from Saudia Arabia to shoot a feature film. Also, “Wadjda” is the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia.
“Wadjda” won the Cinema for Peace Award at the Venice Film Festival and the Audience Award for Best Picture at the Los Angeles Film Festival.
For more information, including show times, go to http://www.theross.org or call 402-472-5353.
