1. 12 Years a Slave

Directed by: Steve McQueen

Produced by: Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Steve McQueen

Screenplay by: John Ridley based on Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Fassbender, Lupia Nyong'O, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt

Nominated for: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director

Synopsis: Solomon Northup, a free black man living with his wife and children in New York in 1841, is tricked by slave traders into traveling to Washington, DC, where he is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Sent to Louisiana, he experiences the violence and degradation of life as a slave while clinging to the hope that he will someday regain his freedom.