Take a look at a teaser for "L’Esclave Furcy" ("The Slave Furcy") – an upcoming french animated (rotoscopy) feature film directed by Serge Elissalde, based on the true story of a slave who sued the French government in 1817 to obtain his freedom.
The project centers on the unique lawsuit by a slave named Furcy. The case culminated in the 1843 decision by France’s Supreme Court of Appeal to recognize the freedom of Furcy on the basis of the Free Soil principle, that any slave setting foot on French soil was free. As my research tells me, the Furcy case has been completely ignored in French scholarship until very recently, thanks to the research done by Washington State University faculty member, Sue Peabody, Ph.D., a professor of history, with concentration on enslaved people in 18th and 19th century France, who participated in legislative reforms to advance the antislavery movement. Her project, “Furcy: Biography of a Slave,” takes a personal look at the life of a slave in regards to the rapidly changing political climate of France, from the royal Old Regime to the Revolution of 1848. The book has yet to be published.
Expected in 2018, the film on the Furcy case is based on author Mohammed Aïssaoui’s 2010 book, "L’affaire de l’esclave Furcy." It is produced by French house Réunion Tiktak Production.
Watch a very early teaser below, so what you see here may not be what the final product looks like:
