Politics of slavery told with ‘Amazing Grace’

As Americans this week partly commemorated the birthday and political career of Abraham Lincoln, who signed the Emancipation Proclamation abolishing slavery, British film director Michael Apted brings British antislavery pioneer William Wilberforce to the screen in “Amazing Grace,” making its Orange County premiere tonight at the Lido Theater in Newport Beach.

The film’s nationwide release on Friday marks 200 years since the passage of the bill that outlawed the slave trade in the British Empire, the result of a persistent parliamentary campaign led by Wilberforce.

“This is a true story that had a fairly considerable impact on American history, and it’s a story that American audiences don’t know anything about,” said Apted, director of the 1980 Academy-Award nominated film “Coal Miner’s Daughter” who is also known for the “Up” series of documentaries that tracks the lives of a group of individuals every seven years and won a directing Emmy award for “Rome.”

The Orange County Film Society — founded in 2006 by the Newport Beach Film Festival with the intention of prolonging the festival experience year round — presents tonight’s screening as the first of its 2007 film series. After hearing about the narrative drama’s success at the Toronto Film Festival, where it premiered in September, society co-founder Gregg Schwenk was eager to bring the production to Newport Beach.

“Michael Apted is an extremely gifted director and someone who exceeds expectations in any genre,” he said. “With this film, he tells a very powerful and moving story that needed to get out to audiences prior to its release.”

The film, starring Ioan Gruffudd, who played Lancelot in 2004’s “King Arthur,” follows Wilberforce’s career as he spearheaded the abolitionist movement in England with the guidance of slave-trader-turnedAnglican-clergyman John Newton, who penned the hymn that is the film’s title. Newton is played by actor Albert Finney.

Wilberforce’s success came after years of fighting. Elected to parliament in 1780 at the age of 21, he introduced the first parliamentary bill to abolish the slave trade a decade later, but it wasn’t until 1807 that the Slave Trade Act passed.

Looking to make a film about politics, Apted found Wilberforce’s story a good medium for sharing a message about heroism and perseverance in the political realm, and like several of his films, he hopes “Amazing Grace” will carry social resonance with its viewers, adding that the affairs of state are “seriously disregarded” by most people.

“I want to show audiences that politics can be a valuable enterprise, changing the way we think and the way we live,” said Apted, president of the Directors Guild of America, the first non-American in that post.

“I also hope it will draw attention to the fact that slavery still exists today.”

Individual memberships to the Orange County Film Society are available for $175 each or $300 for couples, and include eight advanced screenings throughout the year — including tonight’s screening of “Amazing Grace,” 10 general screening tickets for the 2007 Newport Beach Film Festival and other benefits.

For more information or to purchase a membership, visit www.Newport BeachFilmFest.com or call (949) 253-2880.