Nate Parker will be presented with Sundance’s Vanguard Award, the organization announced on Tuesday.
The acclaimed filmmaker will receive the award at Night Before Next, a summer celebration benefiting the Sundance Institute and its artists, at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles on Aug. 11.
Parker directed the highly acclaimed movie “The Birth of a Nation,” about slave Nat Turner (played by Parker) who led the famous rebellion in 1831.
“The Birth of a Nation” premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award.
It was picked up by Fox Searchlight for a record $17.5 million. That sum is believed to be the highest amount of money paid for a film to come out of Sundance.
Parker directed, produced and wrote the film. It will be released in theaters on Oct. 7, 2016.