The Birth of a Nation is set to premiere on October 7th of 2016, and there has been much positive talk about this film. Directed, produced and written by Nate Parker this is his first film where he puts in all the work to make this historical event come to the big screen. Earlier this year it was presented for the first time at the Sundance Film Festival, and it was successful . Not only did it receive rave reviews from critics that attended the film festival, but it was sold for 17.5 million. Fox decided to buy he rights to the film, and it is called the largest deal made in film festival history.
The film is based on true story, a story that is a part of our American history. A story about a man named Nat Turner, a man who was born into slavery, but decides to take charge and forms an uprising against white slave owners. Talk about revenge on a serious level an estimate of 55-65 deaths of white people took place during this rebellion. At a young age, he was taught to read and write, and following that it helped him to read and understand the Bible. A preacher who is to word of God and lead a people to righteousness, but instead he leads a people to rebellion against their masters.
Some recent news popped up about Nate Parker and rape allegations that took place during his time during his college career. Although Parker was exonerated from wrongdoing, the rape victim committed suicide in 2012. Since the resurface of this rape allegation, it has sparked debate amongst many. Some people are willing to overlook Parker’s past and focus on the film. They seem to be pulled in by a period picture that talks about American history and the storyline that commits to drama, anger, horror, but it also commits to empowerment, beauty, and tact.
The picture itself looks amazing, but I’ve only seen the previews. I feel like this film could possibly be nominated for an academy award. The next question is will the black community be acceptable to the idea of another slave movie winning an Oscar. Personally, I cannot wait to this film when it comes out. To me, this is another slave film, but it’s about slaves who decide to stand up and fight. There are thousands of film out there, but I’ve never seen one where a group of slaves decided to fight back.
