If you were even casually paying attention to the Sundance Film Festival this year, you likely heard the big noise surrounding Nate Parker‘s "The Birth Of A Nation." Greeted with a rapturous reception in Park City, Fox Searchlight scooped up the movie for staggering $17.5 million, and with an awards-season release date set, the push has begun to turn this one into a big hit.
Written by Parker, who also stars, with Armie Hammer, Penelope Ann Miller, Jackie Earle Haley, Mark Boone Jr., Colman Domingo, Aunjanue Ellis, Dwight Henry, Aja Naomi King, Esther Scott, Roger Guenveur Smith, and Gabrielle Union in support, the movie tells the story of a ferocious slave revolt. Here’s the official 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.
"The Birth Of A Nation" opens on October 7th. Watch below.