IN THEATERS: NATE PARKER'S 'THE BIRTH OF A NATION' is in theaters now

In Harlem Rev. Al Sharpton NAN founder/president  - who was celebrating his birthday that day -- was on hand to thank Nate personally for telling the story of Nat Turner.

Nate Parker flips the script with a  complete re-imagining of  the D.W. Griffith's classic "Birth of A Nation."  Parker, who stars in directs and wrote the  project, received advanced critical acclaim for his work on the film the Sundance Film Festival.  Past rape allegations, for which Parker as vindicated, threatened the success of the film.  Parker has maintained he was falsely accused.  The victim committed suicide on 2012.

Set against the Antebellum South and based on a true story, 'The Birth of a Nation' follows Nat Turner (Nate Parker), a literate slave and preacher whose financially strained owner Samuel Turner (Armie Hammer) accepts an offer to use Nat's preaching to subdue unruly slaves. As he witnesses countless atrocities - against himself, his wife Cherry (Aja Naomi King), and fellow slaves - Nat orchestrates an uprising in the hopes of leading his people to freedom.

'The Birth of a Nation' also stars Mark Boone Jr., Dwight Henry, Esther Scott, Roger Guenveur Smith with Penelope Ann Miller and Jackie Earle Haley, and is produced by Nate Parker, Kevin Turen, Jason Michael Berman, Aaron L. Gilbert, and Preston L. Holmes.