Steve McQueen Named Director of the Year

12 Years a Slave Director Steve McQueen
12 Years a Slave Director Steve McQueen (Photo Courtesy of the Palm Springs Film Festival)

The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) has announced that 12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen has earned their Director of the Year Award for his work on that dramatic film starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Brad Pitt. McQueen will be honored during the Awards Gala to be held on Saturday, January 4, 2014 at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

“Director Steve McQueen captivates his audiences by challenging them with often unorthodox and unrelenting subject matter and technique,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “McQueen is a master of utilizing the senses to create the essence of his works. In his latest effort, 12 Years a Slave, audiences become integrally involved in the unbearably violent nightmare of a free black man who is kidnapped and sold into slavery, eventually to return home to freedom. To Steve McQueen, a soaring talent who ranks among the greats with each directorial effort, the Palm Springs International Film Festival is proud to present him the 2014 Director of the Year Award.”

McQueen joins a list of 2014 festival winners that includes Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, and Bruce Dern.

Details on 12 Years a Slave: 12 Years a Slave is based on an incredible true story of one man’s fight for survival and freedom. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup (Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty (personified by a malevolent slave owner, portrayed by Michael Fassbender) as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist (Pitt) forever alters his life.

The Palm Springs International Film Festival will take place January 3 through 13, 2014.