AdvertisementHistorian Says '12 Years' Is A Story The Nation Must RememberOctober 24, 2013facebookEmailChiwetel Ejiofor plays Solomon Northup, a free black man in upstate New York who was kidnapped into slavery in 1841 and won his freedom 12 years later. The film 12 Years a Slave is an adaptation of Northup's 1853 memoir. (Fox Searchlight)