Antoine Fuqua Shot ‘Emancipation’ Almost Entirely in Black-and-White to ‘Drain the Color Out of the Confederacy’

For a film about the racial divide in America during the Civil War, Antoine Fuqua’s Emancipation notably lacks color. The director shot the movie in a stylized black-and-white — a brilliant and inspired choice that digs much deeper than visual appeal. Released December 9 on Apple TV+, the film has already garnered Oscars buzz. Still, Emancipation star Will Smith (whose Oscars slap led to the actor’s ban from the ceremony for 10 years) will unlikely receive Academy accolades for his performance. 

Will Smith ‘avoided slavery’ themes until Antoine Fuqua proposed ‘Emancipation’

Based on a famous historical photo, Emancipation follows Will Smith’s character, Peter, as he escapes the South after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Following a harrowing journey through the Louisiana swamps, “Whipped Peter” (whose real name is believed to be Gordon) arrived at a Union encampment in 1863, “exhausted, near-starving, and wearing only rags,” the BBC reports. Yet Gordon enlisted in the Union Army immediately. The photo was reportedly snapped during his medical examination to become a soldier. 

Though Smith’s Oscars incident prompted the star to retreat from the public eye for the better part of 2022, he’s been actively promoting Emancipation. Speaking with Complex, Smith says that, although he has avoided slavery-focused films because he didn’t want to depict “Black folks in that light,” Fuqua’s Emancipation is different.

“Antoine didn’t make a movie about slavery,” Smith says. “It’s a movie about freedom … it’s a movie about endurance and gratitude, and it’s a movie about the power of the spirit of the African American.”

Fuqua seeks to ‘drain the color out of the Confederacy’ in ‘Emancipation’

Filmed primarily in black-and-white, Fuqua’s Emancipation gives off “a stark, kind of bleached patina,” BET reports. Yet, occasionally, viewers see hints of color in desaturated bits.

“It’s slightly confusing but hypnotic,” says BET, noting Fuqua’s choices heighten the film’s experience. 

Yet those choices, though artistic and experience-enhancing, speak to a far deeper meaning. The director told BET he intended to “drain the color out of the Confederacy.”

For a film genre whose subject matter significantly involves color, this choice speaks volumes and shows Black filmmakers’ “power and control” in revisiting and retelling this part of history. 

Fuqua and Smith say the film is a reminder of ‘a big responsibility’

For Fuqua and Smith, who was also a producer on Emancipation, that power and control mean a big responsibility. 

Many younger generations were born into or grew up in an America led by President Barak Obama and might not reckon with much of the nation’s history. Emancipation seeks to ensure that history is remembered — that the stories of our country’s Black ancestors are told. Part of that retelling is brutal, Fuqua admits, but beauty and triumph abound.

In the end, Fuqua hopes Emancipation will inspire more conversations about those difficult topics among families and friends but will also heal the wounds that continue to plague America.