One of the biggest films to come out of the Sundance Film Festival in years occurred this past January with the unveiling of The Birth of a Nation. Written, directed by, produced by, and starring Nate Parker, the film tells the true story of Nat Turner, a literate slave and preacher who was used to “calm” other slaves in neighboring plantations down via his sermons, and who subsequently led a bloody uprising that had reverberations throughout the country.
The movie made waves at Sundance, landing both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award and selling to Fox Searchlight for a whopping $17.5 million, so its theatrical release on October 7th comes with much anticipation. Fox Searchlight debuted a new trailer for the film at CinemaCon last week, and Collider’s own Steve Weintraub was in attendance and able to speak with Parker and co-star Aja Naomi King about the film’s reception and plans for the project’s rollout later this year. Watch the interview above and check out a time index below.
- :15 – The reception to the film at Sundance and the excitement for its release.
- 1:50 – Will the film make the festival circuit this fall? Talk about the awards strategy for the movie.
- 2:55 – What’s it like for Parker to see his passion project not just realized but received with open arms?
- 4:00 – When will the next trailer be released?
