“Birth of a Nation,” a retelling of Nat Turner’s 1831 slave rebellion, opens Friday, Oct. 7, at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center. It could not have arrived at a more critical period in our nation’s troubled grappling with race relations. Since “Birth of a Nation” was not available for review, the following is a preview of the film.

Playing initially at Sundance in January, where it won Audience and Jury awards, “Birth of a Nation” has been widely viewed as a powerful response to Hollywood’s failure to use black stories, directors, or actors. First-time director Nate Parker wrote the screenplay, which was based on a story he wrote with Jean McGianni Celestin. Parker also stars as Nat Turner.

The film draws from Thomas Ruffin Gray’s 1831 pamphlet, “The Confessions of Nat Turner: The Leader of the Late Insurrection in Southampton, Virginia,” which the late William Styron, a Vineyard summer resident, also used as a source for his Pulitzer prizewinning 1967 novel, “The Confessions of Nat Turner.” The novel generated substantial controversy among black intelligentsia over Styron’s portrayal of Turner.

Parker adopted his title from D.W. Griffith’s 1915 film of the same name, which has been both praised for its innovative cinematic techniques and vilified for its sympathetic portrayal of the Ku Klux Klan.

“I’ve reclaimed his title and repurposed it as a tool to challenge racism and white supremacy in America,” Parker recently told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Shot in Savannah, Ga., the film begins with the story of Turner’s childhood on a Virginia cotton plantation. Young Nat plays with the son of plantation owner Samuel Turner (Armie Hammer) whose surname he adopted, and Samuel’s wife Elizabeth helps Nat learn to read. Early scenes show Nat’s dream visions of his African ancestors and help lead toward his embrace of religion (he later becomes a Baptist preacher). Illustrations of slave owner brutality mark the film, and a turning point comes when Nat’s wife Cherry (Aja Naomi King) is assaulted and raped by white men. Another crucial component in Turner’s religious, moral, and political evolution comes when Samuel sends Nat to preach at neighboring plantations as a method of pacifying their slaves.

“Birth of a Nation” has earned mixed reception from critics. Manohla Dargis of the New York Times wrote, “Movies like ‘Birth of a Nation’ are helping write the next chapter of American cinema.” But she also said it was difficult to parse its political and theological arguments. Variety viewed it as well researched, a probing inquiry into the uses and abuses of organized religion. Time magazine asserted it isn’t a great movie, and called Parker a better actor than director.

Parker has generated considerable controversy over his arrest and trial for a 1999 rape. He and fellow Penn State wrestler Jean Celestin were accused of assaulting a Penn State co-ed, but Parker was acquitted and Celestin’s conviction was overturned. The co-ed later committed suicide. In a “Good Morning America” interview, Parker said, “I was falsely accused. I was proven innocent, and I’m not going to apologize for that.”

For tickets and more information, visit mvfilmsociety.com.