The Birth of a Nation (1915) w/ VyceVictus
"It Will Make You a Better Southerner"- tagline from the Birmingham Age-Herald in 1916
We've now hit 100 National Film Registry titles covered on this podcast, and for this milestone episode, we decided to tackle the National Film Registry inductee that has most ominously loomed above this show since we began: D.W. Griffith's vile, hateful, and unfortunately influential 1915 blockbuster The Birth of a Nation.
Longtime friend of the show, and our resident "war movie" correspondent, Action for Everyone's VyceVictus, sat down with us for a wide-ranging discussion on this controversial title that's still being debated more than a century after its release. We'll take a look at the film's source material, talk about exactly why the National Film Registry chose to preserve this film, and the surprising Oscar-nominated director who led the charge for its induction.
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Music by Mike Natale
You're Missing Out: A National Film Registry Podcast
Since 1989, the National Film Registry has selected 25 films each year that are deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". In each episode, Mike Natale (Yahoo!) and Tom Lorenzo (Men's Journal) bring on a special guest to take a look at one of the films from the registry, to get to the heart of why these films matter.
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