When Nate Parker – who’d previously been best known as an actor – started working on Birth Of A Nation, which he planned to write, direct and star in, many thought he’d have trouble getting it made. They weren’t wrong, and when he ended up financing a large chunk of it himself, there were some who thought he was being foolhardy, despite the relevance of the subject matter.
However, then it opened at Sundance to ecstatic reviews, won both the Audience and Grand Jury prizes, and scored the biggest deal ever to come out of the festival, with Fox Searchlight picking it up for $17.5 million. Suddenly it wasn’t Parker who people thought was being foolish, but the film industry, which has failed to see the potential of the material, as well as highlighting the difficulties of funding movies that deal directly with race.
Now the first teaser trailer has arrived, which you can watch below.
Here’s the synopsis: ‘Set against the antebellum South, THE BIRTH OF A NATION follows Nat Turner (Nate Parker), a literate slave and preacher, whose financially strained owner, Samuel Turner (Armie Hammer), accepts an offer to use Nat’s preaching to subdue unruly slaves. As he witnesses countless atrocities — against himself and his fellow slaves — Nat orchestrates an uprising in the hopes of leading his people to freedom.’
It’ll be in cinemas towards the end of the year, ready for a strong run at the Oscars. [Read more…]
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