12 Years a Slave (2013)
Directed by Steve McQueen
In 1841 Solomon Northup, a free Black musician from upstate New York, is lured to Washington, kidnapped, shipped to New Orleans and sold into slavery on Louisiana plantations.
- Travel shown
- On foot, bike, skis or swimming
- Not shown on screen
- Fictional place
- 1Saratoga Springs, New York≈ 00:06:00Stated on screen
Solomon lives with his family as a free violinist and is offered work by two travelling showmen.
- 2Kidnapped≈ 00:13:00Washington, D.C.Stated on screen
After a night of dinner and drink in Washington, he wakes in chains in a slave pen.
- 3Freeman's slave market≈ 00:26:00New Orleans, LouisianaStated on screen
Renamed 'Platt', he is sold by a trader to the planter William Ford.
- 4Ford's plantation≈ 00:31:00Bayou Boeuf, Rapides and Avoyelles parishes, LouisianaInferred
Solomon earns Ford's respect but clashes with the carpenter Tibeats, who tries to lynch him.
- 5Epps's plantation≈ 00:52:00Bayou Boeuf, Rapides and Avoyelles parishes, LouisianaInferred
Sold to the cruel Edwin Epps, he picks cotton for years and finally trusts a Canadian labourer to send a letter north.
- 6Freed at Epps's plantation≈ 02:03:00Bayou Boeuf, Rapides and Avoyelles parishes, LouisianaInferred
- 7Homecoming≈ 02:07:00Saratoga Springs, New YorkStated on screen
The journey in numbers
- Distance travelled
- 4,442 km
- Places
- 4
- Countries
- 1
- Stops
- 7
- Not shown: 2,888 km
- Boat: 1,553 km
Distances are measured in a straight line between stops, so real road distances are longer.
Spotted a mistake?
Every journey is checked against the film, but we can still get things wrong.