Remember back when The Birth of a Nation premiered at Sundance? It became an immediate Oscar front runner until it was derailed by controversy surrounding the director. But let's face the truth: it was never going to win Best Picture. I saw this movie just a week after Green Book won Best Picture in a year of landmark movies by black directors. The Academy was never going to award a movie about a black slave revolt. It's simply too radical for mainstream Hollywood. It's a powerful and provocative movie. And if it makes you uncomfortable, that was the intention.
