Paying Homage to the Cinematic Muse amidst Controversy

by Hugh Anthony

With the announcement of the winner of the Grolsch People’s Choice Award at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) La La Land starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, it became evident that all good things must come to an end….the final day of the year’s edition of the festival. TIFF as a premier international film festival embodies an essential rendering that creates an atmosphere for the appreciation of film as art for both artists and audiences. TIFF is not a festival to shy away from controversy, for example in 1996 with its City to City programming that featured Tel Aviv. It led to a boycott by filmmakers, directors, producers, actors and film festival goes because “the festival has become complicit in the Israeli propaganda machine”. The controversy with this year’s edition of the festival is with The Birth of a Nation and its aspiring filmmaker.

On reflection, weeks earlier several media outlets promulgated their ‘TIFF must-see list…’ highlighted a number of films to see during the festival. As a champion of the cinephile agenda, I elected to attend this year’s controversial film, the fact-based slave drama The Birth of a Nation written, directed, co-produced and starred by Nate Parker. The film entered TIFF with its ground-breaking legacy for creating the most frantic bidding war yet for a film at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. With amongst “at least six competing studios” and was bought by Fox Searchlight for a whopping US$17.5 million. That is considered a record deal for a film at Sundance Film Festival or any film festival as a matter of fact.

Nate Parker

Related article: https://www.thewrap.com/nate-parkers-racially-charged-birth-of-a-nation-sells-to-fox-searchlight-for-17-5-million/

“This is a small but vital part of the American story, which has not been told over the course of 200 years. And it is necessary that it be told.”

Stephen Marche

The Missteps in Media’s Narratives

The film with its record deal and its ascendancy into the film canon were not to be, with controversy swirling about the director, instead of this powerful storytelling narrative of a dark and sordid past not just in US history, but world history. The story is about Nat Turner, a slave in Virginia who led a slave rebellion in 1831 against white slave owners, because he believed all humans were born free, and one that must be given a voice in 2016 and beyond. This is self-evidently an important story in light of the US politics, the presidential race, the recent #oscarsowhite lamentations, the furor over police brutality and #blacklivesmatter. Or did he make a misstep in provoking candour and thought on America’s conscience of inequity, injustice and diabolic racism as being so candidly exposed from 1831 to present day?

The sordid and vitriolic narratives around Nate Parker’s past fueled a storm that undermined the labor of love, the powerful story, his commanding directorial debut, the passion project and the moral grounding of the film. While the Director has been acquitted of a ‘sin’ committed over 17 years ago, for which he will have to atone, the art took back seat to the fueled controversy about the artist. There have been filmmakers, directors and producers who live in controversy their daily lives and even in death (the latter) such as Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Randall Miller and Claude Jutra; but none have commanded such microscopic attention and all-out media scathing as Nate Parker. Let me ask or should I call it out…is it because he’s black? Or disconcerting in some corners that the ground-breaking record deal, the first of its kind in film festival’s history…and it happens to be a black man who was about to become famous and one of the most important filmmakers of his generation. Was there a move afoot to undermine this young man’s achievement as evidenced by “but Parker’s rise came to an abrupt halt in mid-August “when his sexual assault trial resurfaced in industry media” or moreso as one sub-heading hailed “Hollywood ascent derailed”. Is he not deserving to be an Oscar contender and why not, isn’t he human? As an artist, Nate Parker deserves to be celebrated for his talent and the craft he brings with it. He did comment that “healing comes from an honest confrontation with our past” as well as he poignantly noted, “we want to deal with injustice everywhere, wherever it stands.” 

The Cinematic Muse

“… any festival that matters has one crucial task, and that is to defend cinema and many festivals fail to pay adequate reverence to the cinematic muse.”

Richard Porton

However, TIFF in paying homage to the cinematic muse as the largest public film festival of its kind in the world, it selected the film for its programming and The Birth of a Nation made its debut to an appreciative audience, which is unparalleled here in Toronto; with ovations and enthusiastic appreciation for the fact-based slave drama. Piers Handling, CEO of TIFF noted that you [want films] “at the festival to shake people up, due to harsh subject matter or social conditions depicted on the screen, and that’s exactly how it should be”. He further commented that “a film like The Birth of a Nation, and the other films, question and challenge and are provocative. You never want the festival to turn into a safe festival that’s unafraid of controversy.”

Images courtesy of Indiewire by Elliot Davis

TIFF Trailer for The Birth of a Nation – https://www.tiff.net/films/the-birth-of-a-nation/

Film festivals are clearly about something beyond the appreciation of cinema; they are forums for showcasing the best in films, not just from a local perspective, but a global vantage point. TIFF through its mission is dedicated to presenting the best of international and Canadian cinema to film lovers and that it has honoured yet again with this edition of the festival. As Steve Marche in his article for Esquire magazine clearly articulated that “….people will decide for themselves, but after seeing it for myself, I will say this: Watch it. The Birth of a Nation is a great and necessary film, essential to understanding both American history and our current moment.”

Nichols (1994) asserts in his essay Discovering Form, Inferring Meaning: New Cinemas and the Film Festival Circuit that the film festival is designed to serve as a window through which audience may be able to glimpse for the first time important aspects of vital film culture. There is indeed missteps in the industry media’s clandestine behavior to unleash narratives that the legal fraternity have found to be disingenuous and persona non grata upon not just on the director, but eschewing their spurious venom on film festivals such as TIFF to not honor its role to engage in a ‘culture of the extraordinary’ by showcasing cinema, the artistic choices that are essential to their function and the festival experience.                                                  

Cameron Bailey, TIFF’s Artistic Director commented that “we think The Birth of a Nation tells an important story that’s too long been absent from American cinema.” TIFF represents the ultimate celebration of cinema not only as a mass medium but also as a collection of creative text that engages participants within a global framework. TIFF ought to be celebrated for paying homage to the cinematic muse through its programming. This becomes a discursive tool for presenting a mirror to society, that reflects the creative contributions and critical commentary of the new wave of filmmakers

?Hugh Anthony. All rights reserved

About

Hugh Anthony, PhD is a storyteller, lifestyle coach and keynote speaker who is also a client-focused executive and creative savant with excellent communication skills. He brings progressive engagements in leading, managing, facilitating, curating strategies and initiatives that embolden outcomes and enhance lifestyle experiences. Hugh Anthony, PhD is the Cofounder and Principal Consulting Director, Lifestyle and Strategy for ConsulateMilieu?, a boutique lifestyle firm in Toronto, Canada that specializes in creative, avid and exciting art-based and lifestyle projects for its diverse clientele. Hugh Anthony, PhD help individuals uncover their passion, unfold their purpose and share the power of their story. This he does through a process of co-creation that melds recreational, creative and professional endeavours to optimize and enrich lifestyle outcomes.

For career, press inquiries, speaking and advisory opportunities contact Hugh Anthony, PhD at [email protected]. Follow him on LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter @huanthonii