News Americas, ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, Fri. March 28, 2014: Fresh from picking up his first Oscar for “Twelve Years A Slave,” British Caribbean-born film director, Steve McQueen, choose to travel to the birthplace of his father this week to relax.
McQueen was reportedly hosted at a congratulatory party by Grenada’s Ambassador for Inward Investment, British-born Peter de Savary, at his Grenadian home Azzurra Castle.
Among the dignitaries in attendance NAN was told were Grenada’s Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell and the island’s Minister of Tourism, Alexandra Otway Noel.
McQueen joins a stream of A-list celebrities who have been hosted in Grenada in recent months, including Mick Jagger; Oprah Winfrey; Bill Gates; Michele Rodriguez; Kellan Lutz and Morgan Freeman.
McQueen’s father was born in Grenada and his mother in Trinidad. He was born in London in 1969. His parents had each arrived in London in the sixties in the midst of an immigrant influx. His mother found work as a secretary at Queen Charlotte’s Maternity Hospital and his father as a bricklayer.
The powerful drama by McQueen, 12 Years a Slave, won Best Picture at the 2014 Academy Awards. During his acceptance speech, director Steve McQueen dedicated the award to the tens of millions of people still in slavery today.