For a long time it looked as if the Apple TV streaming service would not release Will Smith's (54) already completed film "Emancipation". Because the star and this year's Oscar winner finally slapped the comedian Chris Rock (57) on the stage of the Academy Awards and thus caused a lot of bad press about his person. But now the slavery drama has received an official start date. "Emancipation" will be released worldwide on Apple TV on December 9th. The streaming service also presented a first teaser trailer.

After his slap in the face, Will Smith will not be allowed to attend the Oscars for the next ten years, as decreed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. "Emancipation" will also start in some US cinemas on December 2nd, and is theoretically even qualified for next year's Oscars. The liberation story, which is partly a gripping survival thriller, is in principle also a very excellent Oscar candidate.

In "Emancipation" Will Smith plays the slave Peter, who flees through the swamps of Louisiana in 1863 to reach the army of the Confederate States and thus his freedom. Relentless, racist hunters are always on his heels as he escapes. The film is inspired by one of the most famous photos from the American Civil War era. It shows the back of the so-called "Whipped Peter", disfigured by numerous lashes from his slave owners. The recording, known as "The Scourged Back," significantly influenced public opinion in the Northern States in the 1860s, proving beyond any doubt the inhuman cruelty of slavery.