Nate ParkerThe Vanguard Award was founded in 2011 to mark the 30th anniversary of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program and its founding director, Michelle Satter. The award also includes a cash grant.
Seven months ago, Parker's film, The Birth of a Nation, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, where it won both the audience award and grand jury prize. The film -- which Parker wrote, financed, directed and starred in -- tells the story of a pre-Civil War slave rebellion led by Nat Turner, was the focus of a bidding war at that same festival, won by Fox Searchlight Pictures paying $17.5 million, the most ever for a Sundance film. The Birth of a Nation will be released to theaters on Oct. 7; the first trailer for the film was posted online this week.
Also this week, Parker learned that he is one of 683 new members named by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- the organization best known for the annual Oscar awards presented for excellence in movies - in an effort to make the voting membership more diverse. The Class of 2016 membership - which, in addition to Parker, also includes actors Idris Elba, America Ferrera, Michelle Rodriguez, Michael B. Jordan, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac -- is 46% female, and 41% people of color. If all accept their invitations to join, the percentage of female members and members of color will rise to 27% (up 2%) and 11% (up 3%) respectively, according to USA Today.
Parker's film career started when he was discovered at a modeling convention in Dallas (he was attending with a friend) which led to a commercial ... then roles in TV and movies. His films include Denzel Washington's The Great Debaters, Secret Life of Bees, and Beyond the Lights.
Prior to launching his film career, Nate Parker made a name for himself on the wrestling mat. Born in November 1979 in Norfolk, Va., Parker was introduced to wrestling as a high school sophomore. At national wrestling powerhouse Great Bridge High School, Parker claimed the 125-pound Division AAA title at the 1998 Virginia state championships, and an eighth place finish at the Junior Nationals. Parker earned a scholarship to wrestle at Penn State, and became a starter. However, he left the school after he and a teammate were accused of having had non-consensual sex with a woman; he was acquitted in 2001.
Parker transferred to the University of Oklahoma, where he earned All-American honors by placing fifth in the 141-pound bracket at the 2002 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
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