(Photo: Elliot Davis, Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
The Birth of a Nation got a standing ovation, and it hadn’t even started yet.
At the Eccles theater on Monday afternoon, the crowd rose to salute director/star/writer Nate Parker before they’d seen a frame of his slavery drama, which centers its powerful story around a slave rebellion led by Nat Turner in 1831.
The timing was nothing short of incredible. The Sundance Film Festival had been buzzing for five days with discussions on diversity following the Academy’s announcement of almost all-white nominees (for the second year in a row).
Then The Birth of a Nation arrived, starkly and thoughtfully excavating the roots of American racism.
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