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When actor-director Nate Parker's "The Birth of a Nation" debuted at this year's Sundance Film Festival, and then took home both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award, a lot of people predicted a year of awards.
Now the Sundance Institute is starting that ball rolling, by giving Parker its Vanguard Award.
Parker will receive the honor at Night Before Next, a gala celebration on Thursday, Aug. 11, at The Theatre at Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles, in advance of Sundance's annual Next Fest.
Parker wrote, directed and stars in "The Birth of a Nation," portraying Nat Turner, the Virginia slave and preacher who led one of the nation's deadliest slave rebellions. The movie will be released by Fox Searchlight, starting Oct. 7.
The movie received support from the Sundance Institute in development and post-production, and Parker worked with advisors teamed with Sundance, including director James Mangold ("Walk the Line") and screenwriter Robin Swicord ("Little Women").
Parker has graced Sundance screens before this year, appearing in Spike Lee's "Red Hook Summer," the financial thriller "Arbitrage" and David Lowery's Southern crime drama "Ain't Them Bodies Saints?"
The Night Before Next gala, said Sundance Institute executive director Keri Putnam, "will bring our community together to celebrate and support independent artists who create bold, original work." Parker, she added, fits that description.
The Vanguard Award includes a cash grant and mentorship from industry pros and Institute staff. Parker is the fifth person to receive the award; previous winners were Benh Zeitlin ("Beasts of the Southern Wild"), Ryan Coogler ("Fruitvale Station"), Damien Chazelle ("Whiplash") and Marielle Heller ("The Diary of a Teenage Girl").
Tickets for the Aug. 11 dinner and cocktails, where Parker will receive the award, are $1,500. Tickets for the outdoor party that follows — including a live musical performance by White Sea, the solo project of former M83 singer Morgan Kibby — are $150, and include a Sundance Institute membership. Tickets are available at the Sundance website.