The documentary about Trotter, a Black newspaper editor and activist who fought to ban “The Birth of a Nation” in 1910s Boston, is now available to stream.
William Monroe Trotter’s battle against D.W. Griffith’s notorious film forms the basis of “Birth of a Movement,” which features contributions from Spike Lee and Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Union, who is featured in the movie, says she sympathizes with those who opted not to see it in reaction to director Nate Parker’s 1999 rape case and his handling of the fallout.
In the run up to “The Birth of a Nation’s” premiere this Friday, director Nate Parker addressed his infamous 1999 rape trial in two separate television interviews, declaring his innocence and his desire to shift attention toward the film.
“It’s interesting because it’s coming out the same time the film’s coming out,” said Belafonte of the renewed attention to Parker and Jean Celestin’s 1999 rape trial.
Revived focus on a 17-year-old sexual assault case involving Parker and his “The Birth of a Nation” co-writer Jean Celestin—and the revelation that their accuser took her own life in 2012—has initiated a public conversation about rape and race.
In this point/counterpoint about Nate Parker’s buzzy directorial debut, two Black independent filmmakers wrestle with the notion of seeing more chains, whips and nooses on the big screen.
The director, producer, writer and lead actor for ”The Birth of a Nation” describes contemporary activism and his quest to release Sundance’s most-anticipated film in a story from The Hollywood Reporter.
