Director defends new slave trade film

By Mike Collett-White

LONDON (Reuters) - A new film about the British abolition of the slave trade 200 years ago has been criticised for "writing blacks out of history", but its director said he deliberately focussed on one Englishman's political battle.

"Amazing Grace" opens on March 23 and stars Ioan Gruffudd as William Wilberforce, who fought to have the slave trade banned by parliament and finally saw success when the legislation was passed in 1807.

It also features Senegalese musician Youssou N'Dour as Olaudah Equiano, who wrote about his experiences as a slave before joining the anti-slavery movement.

Despite N'Dour's presence in the film, some black leaders have accused "Amazing Grace" of "prettifying" the slave trade, making Wilberforce the abolition movement's sole champion and ignoring the role slaves played in their own emancipation.

"I think that has been one of the things that have exorcised many black people, people I'm aware of, who have said it writes them out of history," said Richard Reddie, a director of "set all free", a Christian group set up to mark the bicentenary.

"The most important thing is this notion that black people played a role in their freedom," he told Reuters.

"That's vitally important. There's always been a misconception that they were waiting for William Wilberforce and other people in Europe to free them and that clearly wasn't the case. Resistance against enslavement began in Africa."

Reddie said the film would encourage debate about slavery and its legacy, but by downplaying slaves' role in winning freedom it missed an opportunity to inspire young blacks in Britain today.