Samuel L. Jackson Criticizes '12 Years a Slave'

Samuel L. Jackson has criticized the Academy Award nominated film "12 Years a Slave."

During an interview with the International Business Times, Jackson stated that he believes the Steve McQueen film is proof that racism is still present in America. He said that the only reason the film was made was because McQueen was British and not African-American. He added, "I would think that if an African-American director went into a studio and pitched that particular film, they would be like: 'No, no, no.' It is a film about African-Americans - a dark period of history that they don't like to explore in that particular way."

He continued, "Look, I'm glad '12 Years' got made and it's wonderful that people are seeing it and there is another view of what happened in America. But I'm not real sure why Steve McQueen wanted to tackle that particular sort of thing."

The actor went on to say that the recent release "Fruitvale Station" was a braver and more honest film in dealing with race in America. He said, "It explains things like the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the problems with stop and search, and is just more poignant. America is much more willing to acknowledge what happened in the past: 'We freed the slaves! It's all good!' But to say: 'We are still unnecessarily killing black men' - let's have a conversation about that."

Jackson is known for work in a number films including "Django Unchained," "Pulp Fiction," "Star Wars Episode II: Revenge of the Sith" and "The Incredibles."

McQueen's "12 Years a Slave" is currently nominated for nine Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director.