Emancipation

Will Smith plays a real historical figure: Peter, a black man who escaped from the slavery of slave owners in the American South after suffering torture, and the protagonist of the famous "evidence" photo of American slavery. The style of the film has been described as more like "Apocalypse" directed by Mel Gibson than "12 Years a Slave". Willam N. Collage wrote the script. The story comes from Peter's real experience: he escaped from the slave owners, endured the pursuit of cold-blooded hunters and the dangerous swamps of Louisiana, all the way north. And when he escaped to the Northern Army and was inspected, Peter revealed that his back was scarred by being whipped by the plantation overseer. The scene was captured in the famous photograph “the scourged back,” which appeared in the Independent in May 1863 and in Harper’s Weekly on July 4 of that year. The photo became one of the evidences of the cruel atrocities of American slavery. After its release, it promoted the abolitionist movement and prompted many free blacks to join the Union Army. It was spread around the world. Rumor has it that the photo made France and other countries refuse to buy cotton from the American South.