Welcome to Hard Talk from the BBC World Service with me, Stephen Sacker.

My guest in this interview recorded on the 29th of October is one of those rare artists

who's forged an international reputation, both in galleries, thanks to his prize-winning visual

installations, and in cinemas, courtesy of a portfolio of powerful movies, one of which,

12 years a slave, made Steve McQueen the first black director to win the Oscar for Best Picture.

Through all of the plaudits and global renown, McQueen's artistic sensibility is still rooted

in his London upbringing, which featured racism and social injustice. McQueen's artistic sensibility is still rooted in his London upbringing, which featured racism and social injustice.

McQueen, whose parents were immigrants from the Caribbean, experienced discrimination and prejudice from his early years in school.

But his creativity and his talent found an outlet in art.

In 1999, he won the prestigious Turner Art Prize for his work in short films.

A decade later, his first feature film, Hunger, about the IRA hunger strike in Northern Ireland,

announced his talent for movie making. Four years later, his portrayal of the brutality of slavery in

America's Deep South won him that

historic Oscar. Many of his films, documentaries and shorts have focused on the black experience

in Britain. But of late, he's turned his attention to stories from World War II. His latest film,

Blitz, looks at the human impact of the Nazi bombing campaign in London in 1940.

His subject matter confronts the pain of injustice.

How important is it not to look away?

Well, Sir Steve McQueen joins me now.

Welcome to Hard Talk.

Thank you for having me.

It's a great pleasure to have you.

...