Amistad - US Film By Steven Spielberg: Events in Hyderabad

REVIEW FOR AMISTAD - US FILM...

The Hyderabad Film Club is screening the film Amistad at Sarathi Studios in Ameerpet, on 16th July. The film is directed by Steven Spielberg and stars Djimon Hounsou, Anthony Hopkins, Morgan Freeman and Matthew McConaughey.

Amistad, which is based on the true story of a slave mutiny, is the name of a slave ship traveling from Cuba to the US in 1839. It is carrying a cargo of Africans who have been sold into slavery in Cuba, taken on board, and chained in the cargo hold of the ship. As the ship is crossing from Cuba to the US, Cinque, who is a tribal leader in Africa, leads a mutiny and takes over the ship. They continue to sail, hoping to find help when they land.

Instead, when they reach the United States, they are imprisoned as runaway slaves. They do not speak a word of English, and it seems like they are doomed to die for killing their captors, when an abolitionist lawyer decides to take their case, arguing that they were free citizens of another country, and not slaves at all. The case finally gets to the Supreme Court, where John Quincy Adams makes an impassioned and eloquent plea for their release.

The entry is free for everybody. Please contact Bh S S Prakash Reddy of the Hyderabad Film Club at 2373-0841/93910-20243 for further details.