EPIX Announces Docuseries ‘Enslaved’

EPIX has announced that six-part docuseries “Enslaved” will premiere Monday, September 14 at 10 p.m. ET.  Led by actor and activist Samuel L. Jackson, “Enslaved” sheds new light on 400 years of human trafficking from Africa to the New World.   Based on a DNA test identifying his ancestral tribe, the series traces Jackson’s personal journey from the U.S. to Gabon for his induction into the Benga tribe, with rare access to secret ceremonies and local customs.
 
The logline: Using new diving technology – such as advanced 3D mapping and ground-penetrating radar – to locate and examine sunken slave ships on three continents, the series reveals an entirely new perspective on the history of the transatlantic slave trade. The series also tracks the efforts of Diving With a Purpose (DWP), a collaborating organization with The National Association of Black Scuba Divers (NABS), as they search for and locate six slave ships that sank drowning the enslaved humans aboard.  Featuring the most dives ever made on sunken slave ships, Enslaved also chronicles the first positive identification of a “Freedom Ship,” an American schooner that ferried African American runaways to Canada. 
 
Each episode follows three separate story lines: the quest for a sunken slave ship, a personal journey by Samuel L. Jackson and a historical investigation led by investigative journalists Simcha Jacobovici and Afua Hirsch.
 
After its launch on EPIX, “Enslaved” will also premiere on CBC in Canada on Sunday, October 18 at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT).  The series is being distributed internationally by Fremantle.