As a way to keep down production costs, a bulk of the filming took place around the greater New Orleans area – mostly south of the Red River country in the north of the state, where the historic Northup was enslaved.
Kako bi smanjili produkcijske troškove, većina filma snimljena je u široj okolici New Orleansa - uglavnom južno od okruga Red River u sjevernom dijelu države gdje je Northup zaista i bio rob.