'12 Years a Slave' director Steve McQueen named anti-slavery patron

Steve McQueen, who helmed '12 Years a Slave', a film based on the true story of a free black man Solomon Northup who was abducted and sold into slavery, has become the ambassador for Anti-Slavery International.

While talking about his new role, the British director said that there are Solomon Northups in every region of the world who have been taken away from their families and placed in slavery, Contactmusic reported.

McQueen said that he hopes that, 150 years from now, a film will not be made about our ambivalence to slavery, adding that everyone has to do something about it.

The world's oldest human rights organisation was formed in 1839 to lobby against slavery and related abuse.