Director Steve McQueen's movie "12 Years A Slave" has caused quite a splash in Hollywood, and now the critically-acclaimed film is heading to the classroom.
The National School Boards Association has announced that the Golden Globe winning and Oscar-nominated film and the 1853 memoir chronicling the capture, enslavement, and escape of black northerner Solomon Northup will now be taught in public high school American history classes.
According to Time, the distribution will be funded by TV host Montel Williams in partnership with New Regency, Penguin Books and Fox Searchlight Pictures. Williams was also largely responsible for the incorporation of the Civil War film "Glory" into school curriculum.
“This gives high school teachers a lot of options, so they can decide how they can fit it in with the curricula they’re teaching,” said NSBA executive director, Tom Gentzel.
The initiative is scheduled to launch September 2014, much to the pleasure of director Steve McQueen who said he dreamed of seeing the book become part of the discussion of slavery in schools.
Watch Steve McQueen explaining his vision for having 12 Years taught in schools in the video above.