All hail, Birth of Nation. The slave rebellion drama written and directed by Nate Parker premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and received a robust round of applause and standing ovation during the roll credits of the nearly two-hour film.
There are heavy talks that this film is most definitely an Oscar contender for next year. Parker stars as Nat Turner, the slave who became a preacher and lead a slave rebellion.
The film chronicles Turner’s birth into slavery in the 1800s to spearheading the revolution that led to the deaths of dozens of white slave owners.
During the Q&A portion of the festival, Parker admitted that he gave up acting for two years to focus on the film.
“It was very difficult, for so many reasons. I think that it had been desperately sanitized. There’s a resistance to dealing with this material.”
He wants people to come out and see this movie and allow it to reflect upon themselves.
“I made this film for one reason, with the hope of creating change agents. That people can watch this film and see that there were systems that were in place that were corrupt and corrupted people and the legacy of that still lives with us. I just want you, if you are affected and you are so moved, to ask yourself, ‘Are there systems in my life that need attention whether it be racial, gender?’ There are a lot of injustices.”
Parker also spoke about the hardships he faced while trying to receive funding for this project. The Oscars received backlash due to the lack of diversity. Given the well-received response from other actors, film critics and directors, there is no way this movie can be overlooked.
Birth of A Nation also stars Gabrielle Union (Being Mary Jane).
– Emily Aikens
