The official trailer for actor Nate Parker’s directorial debut, The Birth of a Nation premiered online yesterday (June 21). The two-minute trailer starts off with a resonant image of Nat Turner (as played by Nate Parker) picking cotton against a voice-over of an anonymous male figure who says, “You’re a child of God. You got purpose.”
The trailer wastes no time presenting the viewer with the adverse conditions experienced by slaves in the South. At one point, there’s a scene depicting a Caucasian girl leading a little African-American girl with a leash made of rope around her neck.
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The second half of the trailer, set to Andra Day’s inspirational anthem “Rise Up,” fittingly depicts Turner leading his fellow slaves in a revolt against their Caucasian counterparts. The Birth Of A Nation also stars Armie Hammer and How To Get Away With Murder’s Aja Noami King, in a performance that is already drawing Oscar buzz. The film is set for release on Oct. 7, a date that could potentially position the Sundance darling as a possible Oscar contender.
Watch Nat Turner’s revolt unfold in the trailer below