A British film about the abolition of the slave trade has been condemned by black leaders for reducing the suffering of Africans to “a mere bit part”.

Lee Jasper, equalities adviser to Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, accused Michael Apted, the director, of “prettifying” the horror of the slave trade by focusing on the abolitionist William Wilberforce and his parliamentary struggle two centuries ago.

The row threatens to cast a shadow over the abolition bicentennial commemorations at a time when schools are giving unprecedented attention to the issue and when focus on modern-day slavery, such as the trafficking of women, has never been more pressing.

The film, Amazing Grace, stars Ioan Gruffudd as William Wilberforce, Romola Garai as his wife Barbara Spooner and Albert Finney as John Newton, the slaver who converted to Christianity, wrote the hymn Amazing Grace and completed his life scrubbing the floors of Westminster Abbey.

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Background

• Amazing Grace

• Amazing Grace - smaller is better

• Abolition man

• Amazingly graceless remarks by dull critics

• Film row on ‘prettifying’ of slave trade

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Youssou N’Dour, the Grammy-winning Senegalese singer, is one of the few black people in the film, playing Olaudah Equiano, an African prince sent as a slave to the colonies who bought his freedom, went to Britain and wrote a book that figured prominently in the abolitionist campaign.

Amazing Grace will be released on March 23 but is already sparking anger among black church and community leaders. Mr Jasper, speaking as secretary of the Assembly Against Racism, said: “The film prettifies the tragedy, the horror and the brutality of the slave trade. It seeks to give the impression that one man freed millions of slaves and negates the contribution of the enslaved Africans to their own freedom to a bit part.”

Richard Reddie, project director of “set all free”, the English churches’ bicentennial campaign, said that there was a widely held view among black community leaders who had seen the film that it misrepresented history.

Mr Apted defended his film, saying: “The focus of the piece is on the politics. It represents the point of view of Wilberforce.”

The row comes at a time when Hollywood moguls, publishers and television schedul-ers are preparing to celebrate the anniversary of Parliament’s vote to abolish the slave trade.

In 1807 its impact was felt keenly in Africa and at sea, where cynical captains would often dump their human cargo overboard rather than pay the Royal Navy fines. But in 2007 it will be marked in bookshops, on TV and at the cinema, with Amazing Grace likely to be the biggest moneyspinner.

BBC Two is marking the anniversary with a series of programmes. Moira Stuart travels in search of William Wilberforce, Ms Dynamite investigates the tale of Nanny of the Maroon, a legendary Jamaican slave, and Simon Schama presents a series based on his book, Rough Crossings. BBC Four also has a three-part history of racism.

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