The Birth of a Nation Overview:

The Birth of a Nation (1915) was a Drama - Historical Film directed by D.W. Griffith and produced by D.W. Griffith and H.E. Aitken.

The Birth of a Nation was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1992.

BlogHub Articles:

Classic Films in Focus: THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915)

By Jennifer Garlen on Feb 19, 2013 From Virtual Virago

D.W. Griffith's silent Civil War epic is one of those films that every serious student of film probably needs to sit through at some point, but for the modern viewer The Birth of a Nation (1915) is a very hard pill to swallow. Lauded by film critics who praise its technique while deploring its polit... Read full article


Classic Films in Focus: THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915)

By Jennifer Garlen on Feb 19, 2013 From Virtual Virago

D.W. Griffith's silent Civil War epic is one of those films that every serious student of film probably feels obligated to sit through at some point, but for the modern viewer The Birth of a Nation (1915) is a very hard pill to swallow. Lauded by film critics who praise its technique while deploring... Read full article


Classic Films in Focus: THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915)

By Jennifer Garlen on Feb 19, 2013 From Virtual Virago

D.W. Griffith's silent Civil War epic is one of those films that every serious student of film probably feels obligated to sit through at some point, but for the modern viewer The Birth of a Nation (1915) is a very hard pill to swallow. Lauded by film critics who praise its technique while deploring... Read full article


10 Things About The Birth of a Nation

By Brandy Dean on Feb 8, 2013 From Pretty Clever Films

If you’re going to love silent cinema or if you’re going to make a study of the early development of movies, you’re gonna have to butt heads with D.W. Griffith. And you’re going to have to come to some kind of truce with The Birth of a Nation. We all know the problems with th... Read full article


The Birth of a Nation

By Janelle Vreeland on Sep 19, 2011 From Curtains

The Birth of a Nation (1915) There is no question about the influence director D.W. Griffith has had on the art of filmmaking. He invented techniques that we take for granted today. And what he did not invent himself, he certainly perfected. Unfortunately, his genius was tarnished by the racist to... Read full article


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Quotes from

Elsie Stoneman: [Ben is to be hanged. Elsie has an idea] We will ask mercy from the Great Heart.


John Wilkes Booth: Sic semper tyrannis!


Flora Cameron: [to Gus] Stay away or I'll jump!


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Facts about

A huge demand for film prints quickly wore out the one and only negative. All later copies of the film had to be made from prints, causing reduced quality.
The original budget for the film was $40,000, but D.W. Griffith spent $110,000, the largest amount ever spent on a film up to that time.
Historian Kevin Brownlow has expressed doubt concerning 'Fireworks' Wilson' whom Karl Brown, the assistant cameraman, named as the special effects man in interviews. Brownlow's doubt is caused by the fact that there are no references to Wilson in any other accounts from any period, and he has suggested that Brown may have invented the name since he could not recall the name of the film's documented special effects supervisor, Walter Hoffman.
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National Film Registry

The Birth of a Nation

Released 1915
Inducted 1992
(Silent)




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Also directed by D.W. Griffith




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Also produced by D.W. Griffith




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Also released in 1915




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