The Birth of a Nation (2016)

Directed by

Nate Parker

Genre

drama film, biographical film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 50m

Rated

R

Rating

6.6 of 10 from 577 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This historical drama tells the story of Nat Turner, an enslaved man who led a rebellion in Virginia in 1831. The film focuses on his life and the events leading up to the uprising against slavery.

intensegrittysomberdeterminedhistoricalunflinchingdefiantemotional

What happens

The Birth of a Nation is a 2016 historical drama film written and directed by Nate Parker in his directorial debut. It is based on the story of Nat Turner, the enslaved man who led a slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia, in 1831. The film stars Parker as Turner, with Armie Hammer, Mark Boone Jr., Colman Domingo, Aunjanue Ellis, Dwight Henry, Aja Naomi King, Esther Scott, Roger Guenveur Smith, Gabrielle Union, Penelope Ann Miller, and Jackie Earle Haley in supporting roles. Parker also petitioned financiers to invest in the film, ultimately getting $8.5 million in production budget, and started filming in May 2015 in Georgia. The film's title is an ironic callback to the 1915 KKK-focused silent film. The Birth of a Nation premiered in competition at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, where Fox Searchlight Pictures bought worldwide rights to the film in a $17.5 million deal (at the time the largest deal at the festival), and won the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. The film was theatrically released in the United States on October 7, 2016, and grossed $16 million, receiving positive reviews from critics, with praise for its directing, acting, soundtrack, and cinematography. Because The Birth of a Nation attracted increased attention during its festival run, there was significant press coverage of a 1999 alleged rape that Parker and co-story writer Jean McGianni Celestin were accused of having committed, and the fact that the accuser committed suicide in 2012. While Parker was acquitted and Celestin was not retried after his conviction was overturned on appeal, the controversy surrounding the alleged rape and Parker's initial responses to the controversy cast a shadow over the film. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

• Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property (2003)
• Harriet (2019)
• 12 Years a Slave (2013)
• The Best of Enemies (2019)
• Liberty & Slavery (2016)
• Malcolm X (1992)
• The 13th (2016)
• All the Way (2016)