Synopsis

In 1839, Mende captives seize control of the Spanish slave ship La Amistad and are later captured off Long Island. Their imprisonment sparks a legal and diplomatic struggle over whether they are enslaved property or illegally kidnapped free people. Abolitionists and attorney Roger Baldwin take up their cause, while former President John Quincy Adams joins the defense as the case reaches the Supreme Court.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film is based on the 1839 revolt aboard La Amistad and the legal battle that culminated in the U.S. Supreme Court's 1841 decision.

• Theodore Joadson, played by Morgan Freeman, is a fictional composite. The historical figures who helped advance the case included professor Josiah Willard Gibbs Sr. and Mende translator James Covey.

• The African captives speak Mende in the film. Djimon Hounsou learned the language for his performance.

• Amistad was Steven Spielberg's first film made for the newly founded DreamWorks Pictures. It was released theatrically on December 10, 1997.

• Chiwetel Ejiofor made his film debut in Amistad as James Covey.

• The production filmed in New England and Puerto Rico. Rhode Island's Old Colony House was used for courthouse scenes, while Fort Adams supplied prison locations.

• Amistad received four Academy Award nominations: Supporting Actor for Anthony Hopkins, Cinematography, Costume Design, and Original Dramatic Score.