Belle (2014)

This epic drama is based on a historical character, Dido Elizabeth Belle, the mixed–race daughter of a British Naval officer and an African woman. Dido is taken to England by her father, Captain Sir John Lindsay, to be raised by his uncle, the Lord Mansfield, as an aristocratic Lady, as befits her blood line.

On the grand estate of Kenwood House, Dido is raised in privilege alongside her cousin Elizabeth Murray and together they navigate the complex social hierarchies of the time. Dido meets John Davinier, a young lawyer and apprentice of Lord Mansfield, and a rift grows between her and her protective guardian, who sees John as being beneath Dido. Yet John and Dido’s meeting is the beginning of a love story that catapults Dido onto a path of self-discovery, and forces Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice, to confront his own views on race, society and the antiquated laws of the time.