<P> But what he heard instead were all the reasons a movie about Nat Turner wouldn't work: Movies with black leads don't play internationally; a period film with big fight scenes would be too expensive; it was too violent; it wouldn't work without a big box - office star leading it; Turner was too controversial--after all, he was responsible for the deaths of dozens of well - off white landowners . </P> <P> After Parker finished his acting role in Beyond the Lights in late 2013, he told his agents he would not continue acting until he had played Nat Turner in a film . He invested $100,000 of his money to hire a production designer and to pay for location scouting in Savannah, Georgia . He met with multiple financiers, and the first to invest in the film were retired basketball player Michael Finley (who had previously invested in the film The Butler) and active basketball player Tony Parker (no relation). Parker eventually brought together 11 groups of investors to finance 60% of the production budget, and producer Aaron L. Gilbert of Bron Studios joined to cover the remaining financing . </P> <P> In November 2014, development was underway, and Armie Hammer joined the cast . By April 2015, Aja Naomi King and Gabrielle Union joined the cast . In subsequent months, Penelope Ann Miller, Jackie Earle Haley, and Mark Boone Junior also joined . Filming took place in Georgia in May 2015 and lasted 27 days . Parker used the a cappella choir from Wiley College on the soundtrack . Parker had previously been part of a cast that portrayed historical figures from Wiley, in The Great Debaters . </P> <P> The Birth of a Nation premiered in competition at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2016 . Before it screened, the audience gave a standing ovation to the introduction of Nate Parker . After it premiered, Variety said it "received the most enthusiastic standing ovation at this year's Sundance Film Festival so far". Following The Birth of a Nation's Sundance premiere, Fox Searchlight Pictures bought worldwide rights to the film in a $17.5 million deal . Competing deals also came from The Weinstein Company, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Netflix . Variety said Fox Searchlight's deal was "the richest in Sundance history". </P>

Where was the movie birth of a nation filmed