Solomon Northup's Odyssey, reissued as Half Slave, Half Free, is a 1984 American television film based on the 1853 autobiography Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, a free black man who in 1841 was kidnapped and sold into slavery.

[1] The film, which aired on PBS, was directed by Gordon Parks with Avery Brooks starring as the titular character.

It was the second film to be funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, following A House Divided: Denmark Vesey's Rebellion in 1982.

[2] Solomon Northup's Odyssey is directed by Gordon Parks, who also composed the film score with Kermit Moore.

The film was produced by The Fremantle Corporation and Past America Inc.[4] The National Endowment for the Humanities provided funding for a series of programs related to American history.

Producer Shep Morgan received a planning grant from the NEH in 1976 and sought input from historians including Robert B. Toplin who suggested the topic of American slavery.

"[5] Toplin said the film in particular corrected the tendency of Roots and similar media "to portray almost all slaveholders as insensitive exploiters".

The magazine said Solomon Northup's Odyssey at the time of airing "has been praised by critics who are calling for a theater release as well".

[11] John Corry of The New York Times said of the film, "It gives us an earnest and intelligent depiction, although its real subject—the moral effect of slavery—stays just out of reach.

He commended the performances of Brooks, Green, Saxon, and Seneca and concluded, "[The film] is informative, but whatever else it is, it is not dull.

[15] The National Endowment for the Humanities wrote in 2016, "The [1984] film helped push one of the darkest periods from America’s past into public consciousness, paving the way for such later movies as Amistad [in 1997], Django Unchained [in 2012], and the most recent adaptation of Northup's memoir... 12 Years a Slave [in 2013], which was lauded for its realistic portrayal of the horror of slavery.

"[16] When Steve McQueen's adaptation 12 Years a Slave was released, ColorLines noted the obscurity of Solomon Northup's Odyssey, "With limited funding, and predating social media, the film came and went with little fanfare.

Yet Parks's film is beautiful in its own right, lacking the ferocious immediacy of McQueen's work, but containing a somber lyricism that's hard to shake.