“It’s bigger than me, it’s bigger than any one individual we have in this film.” “This movement is bigger than Nate Parker,” she said. Related: Nate Parker at ‘The Birth of a Nation’ Press Conference: ‘This Is a Forum for the Film’Ĭostar Gabrielle Union echoed those sentiments. I think there’s a conversation that needs to be had.” “I think healing qualities for our country. “I would say there are 400-plus people that have worked on this film,” Parker said (watch above). Amid the controversy, potential viewers online and in the media (like New York Times columnist Roxanne Gay) said they planned on skipping the movie because of Parker.Īt this month’s Toronto International Film Festival, where Birth screened to two standing ovations, Yahoo Movies asked Parker and the cast what their message would be to those who’ve said they won’t see the film in light of recent revelations. Parker, who was acquitted of charges in 2001, confronted his past in interviews with Variety and Deadline, but scrutiny intensified when it was revealed that his accuser had committed suicide in 2012. In August however, a 1999 rape case involving the actor-writer-director and his co-writer Jean Celestin resurfaced. Nate Parker’s critically acclaimed drama about slave rebellion leader Nat Turner was acquired by Fox Searchlight for a record-breaking $17.5 million and pegged as an early Oscar favorite. The Birth of a Nation was the breakout debut of January’s Sundance Film Festival.
