AceShowbiz -

The first trailer for "The Birth of a Nation" has finally arrived, set to the tune of Nina Simone's "Strange Fruit" cover. The period drama has been making the buzz at the Sundance Film Festival early this year and garnered rave reviews at recent CinemaCon.

Nate Parker is the main man in the film, taking the role of director, producer, writer and star all at the same time. He won the breakthrough director of the year award at CinemaCon and received a standing ovation after the film's premiere at Sundance. It also took home the grand jury prize and audience award at the latter event.

Set against the antebellum South, this story follows Nat Turner, 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. After witnessing countless atrocities against fellow slaves, Nat devises a plan to lead his people to freedom.

"The Birth of a Nation" borrows its title from D.W. Griffith's abjectly racist 1915 film of the same name. There has been serious buzz about it being Oscar-worthy. Fox Searchlight, who bought it for a record $17.5 million after a fierce bid against other studios, is releasing it during a prime award season on October 7.