After years working as a jobbing actor, Nate Parker has turned writer, director, producer and star for what is being praised as a storming debut behind the camera. The first teaser trailer for The Birth Of A Nation is now online.
Parker is Nat turner, a literate slave and preacher who is tasked by his financially overburdened owner Samuel Turner (Armie Hammer) with using his proselytizing to subdue unruly slaves. But after witnessing countless atrocities wrought upon him and his fellow workers, Nat decides to act, and orchestrates an uprising in the hopes of leading his people to freedom.
Following an incredibly successful premiere at this year's Sundance Film Festival, the drama was quickly snapped by Fox Searchlight, which plunked down $17.5 million for the rights to distribute it. And hoping it can become a critical and commercial hit along the lines of 12 Years A Slave, it'll have an awards-friendly release in the US.
With Jackie Earle Haley, Penelope Ann Miller, Colman Domingo, Esther Scott, Roger Guenveur Smith and Gabrielle Union in the cast, The Birth Of A Nation will arrive in the UK on January 20 next year.