An updated version of the Billie Holiday classic “Strange Fruit” opens the trailer for The Birth of a Nation, the Sundance hit from director and star Nate Parker. The story of the slave revolt led by Nat Turner, The Birth of a Nation was a passion project for Parker, working for years to acquire the funding to tell this story as he saw fit. As we’ve seen time and time again, the racially charged history of the United States hasn’t diminished over time, and stories of the past often reflect our present.
Unlike any other film at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, The Birth of a Nation started an intense bidding war between studios and streaming services pivoting to obtain the next major awards contender, and by all accounts, The Birth of a Nation is a legit contender in 2016. Fox Searchlight won the bidding war, and hope to place all their might behind Parker’s long gestating passion project, a project all hope ends with Oscar glory.
Of course, this bold project hijacks the name of the classic silent film from D.W. Griffith, a film that while advancing the technique of cinema was and is one of the most racist films ever made. It’s a bold and deliberate choice from Parker, one that might form its own sense of controversy that prefer the title always evoke visions of Griffith’s adaptation of the novel The Clansman by Thomas F. Dixon, Jr.
As the election draws near and issues of racial strife will draw to the forefront of the national conversation, The Birth of a Nation will be hitting theaters, likely to fan the flames of controversy among the more regressive forces of our society. The Birth of a Nation opens in theaters on October 7th, 2016, and possibly will be a lasting part of the national conversation through Oscar season and beyond.
The official synopsis for The Birth of a Nation:
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 and uprising in the hopes of leading his people to freedom.
