Directors weigh in on the treatment of Nate Parker and The Birth of a Nation: ‘I don’t think it’s fair’

Mel Gibson, Denzel Washington, Oliver Stone and more sat down for a chat

Writer/director Nate Parker attends the premiere of Fox Searchlight Pictures' 'The Birth of a Nation' (Getty Images)

Former Oscars-contender The Birth of a Nation had a very swift rise and fall, initially receiving standing ovations, gushing praise and crazy investment.

Excitement over its release soured, however, when reports of a rape trial involving director and star, Nate Parker, were dragged up – in 2001 Parker was acquitted of charges relating to the rape of a fellow student, an 18-year-old woman, at Penn State University in 1999. His co-defendant, writer Jean Celestin, who has a story credit on the film, was also acquitted of rape charges but was convicted for sexual assault only for that conviction to be overturned years later.

The seriousness of the allegations was enough for Parker to face a media firestorm – and the ruin of his career – once news of the trial resurfaced, despite having been found innocent.

Birth of a Nation swiftly dropped off the Oscars radar and started receiving more tepid reviews. In August it was revealed that the woman who had made the allegations against him took her own life in 2012, aged 30.

It’s a classic “do you look at the art or the artist?” situation and a group of directors were asked about it during a roundtable for The Hollywood Reporter this week.

Asked if they thought it was fair that many would refuse to watch Birth of a Nation because of the controversy that dogs its director, Mel Gibson piped up: “I don't think it’s fair. He was cleared of all that stuff [the rape trial in which Parker was found not guilty]. And it was years ago.”

“You have to follow the system there. I think he's innocent of all that stuff. The fact that he has to live with that stigma, and that it affects the art he does, is unfair.”

Mira Nair, however, pointed out that the themes in the film complicate matters.

“I think yes, the art should be separated,” she said. “But in this case, it was ironic that at the heart of Birth of a Nation was the nature of what he was linked with [a rape of the lead character's wife].

“That was, I think, what created ambiguity and confusion in the eyes of the audience.”

‘Birth of a Nation’ is in cinemas across the UK.