The Birth of a Nation

The Birth of a Nation (2016) is a historical drama you can watch online on iFILM. It follows Nat Turner, an enslaved preacher who led an uprising across Virginia in the summer of 1831.

Nate Parker wrote, directed and stars in the film. His Turner can read and knows scripture — rare for a slave in that era — so his owners hire him out to nearby plantations to preach obedience to other enslaved people. What he witnesses on those journeys turns his sermons inside out. He reads a solar eclipse as a sign from God and rallies men who have nothing left to lose. The cast includes Armie Hammer, Aja Naomi King and Gabrielle Union.

The film swept Sundance, taking both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award. Its title deliberately reclaims Griffith's notorious 1915 silent picture and argues back at it head-on. This is hard, uncomfortable filmmaking about faith sharpened into a weapon. Stream The Birth of a Nation (2016) online on iFILM.