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The recently released Apple TV+ film Emancipation sees Will Smith take on the role of \u00a0Peter \u2013 a slave who takes the extremely brave decision to flee a Louisiana plantation in order to avoid the brutal whippings he and his fellow slaves are consistently being subjected to.<\/p>\n
Although the film takes several liberties with the historical record, it is loosely based on the case of a real slave named Gordon \u2013 sometimes referred to as \u2018Whipped Peter\u2019 \u2013 who became a major part of the abolitionist movement after a photograph of his horrifically scarred back was widely circulated and helped draw attention to the horrors of slavery.<\/p>\n
The real photo actually played a major part in the production of the film, with star Charmaine Bingwa explaining to RadioTimes.com<\/a> that director Antoine Fuqua \u201cwould take Peter\u2019s photograph and show the background actors so that even they could be engaged at such a deep, visceral level\u201d.<\/p>\n But how closely does the film stick to real events? Read on for everything you need to know.<\/p> Emancipation true story<\/strong><\/h2>\n