Congratulations to Steve McQueen, whose “12 Years A Slave” won the Best Picture at the Golden Globes last night, making him the FIRST ARTIST to win this title – what an honor! McQueen is not new to receiving praise and awards for his film projects, remember his 2008 feature film “Hunger” which got him the Camera d’Or at Cannes Film Festival (and thus became the first British director to win the title)
Moving between film and art circles, "Hunger" was followed by McQueen’s brilliant representation of Britain at the 2009 Venice Biennale with his new video piece “Giardini,” and followed by his 2nd feature film “Shame” 2011 which also received good reviews. But regardless of being a feature film or an artwork, McQueen’s imagery is always beautifully haunting and at times faces you with the harsh realities of life. Michael Fassbender, who starred in all three of McQueen’s feature films so far, explains why he thinks McQueen’s works are so powerful:
With his (Steve's) films, as an audience member you end up participating in the experience instead of just sitting there safely in your seat, removed from what's happening on the screen. I think that's what makes it difficult, and rightly so. When I saw the film (12 Years a Slave), it took a couple of hours to digest.
