The awarding winning, record breaking film The Birth of a Nation hits the big screen on October 7^th. The film directed by Nate Parker –who also stars in the movie– is about Nat Turner, a former slave in America, who leads a liberation movement in 1831 to free African-Americans in Virginia that results in a violent retaliation from whites. The film was shot in 27 days and a budget of just under $10 million from a first time writer/director/producer/actor.

The movie stole the show at Sundance this year, winning the grand jury prize and the audience award. These awards wouldn’t be the only thing Parker would walk away with. After a fierce bidding war between The Weinstein Company, Netflix and Sony, Fox Searchlight Pictures snagged the worldwide distribution rights for the film for $17.5 million; the biggest deal in the history of the Sundance Film Festival.

Nate Parker at Sundance

According to Deadline, Nate Parker spoke after his premiere at Sundance and said “I’m swinging a hammer, I wanna break everything. Subvert, subvert, subvert.” He wants everyone to be challenged and to take action. This film showcases Nat Turner’s bravery doing just that.

As per IMDB, Parker also spoke on what he wants the audience to walk away with after watching the film. “This film tells the fatalist to sit down, and the optimist to stand up.” For those of you that aren’t aware, Fatalism is “the view that we are powerless to do anything other than what we actually do.”

The Birth of a Nation award nominations and wins won’t stop here. I have feeling we will be seeing this film, along with Nate Parker, on the red carpet during next year’s award season pretty often.

Check out the trailer here:

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Nat Turner Film Trailer Released ‘Birth Of A Nation’ [WATCH]

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