Nate Parker’s Birth Of A Nation was just sold at Sundance in one of largest deals ever, for $17.5 million to Fox Searchlight. Parker quit his acting career to raise $10 million for the film, which he wrote, produced, directed and stars in. Speaking at Sundance, Parker said, “I made this film for one reason – in the hope of creating change agents. You can watch this film and see there are systems that were in place that were corrupt and corrupted people. And the legacy of that still lives with us.”
The film tells the story of Nat Turner, a slave who leads a 48-hour rebellion in Virginia in 1831. Armie Hammer and Aja Naomi King also star. The official synopsis for the film reads:
” Set against the antebellum South, this story follows Nat Turner, a literate slave and preacher, whose financially strained owner, Samuel Turner, accepts an offer to use Nat’s preaching to subdue unruly slaves. After witnessing countless atrocities against fellow slaves, Nat devises a plan to lead his people to freedom.”
Here are some stills from the film: