The Birth of a Nation (1915)
0.1371Canon Score · ranked #194 all time
Aggregated from 5 of 31 authoritative lists, weighted by authority and adjusted for each list's scope and age. How scoring works →
About the film
Two families, abolitionist Northerners the Stonemans and Southern landowners the Camerons, intertwine. When Confederate colonel Ben Cameron is captured in battle, nurse Elsie Stoneman petitions for his pardon. In Reconstruction-era South Carolina, Cameron founds the Ku Klux Klan, battling Elsie's congressman father and his African-American protégé, Silas Lynch.
Why it ranks #194
Every list on which The Birth of a Nation appears, with its position as published.
| List | Authority | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Village Voice 100 Best of 20th C (2000) | Critics' canon | #14 / 100 |
| TIFF Essential 100 (2010) | Editorial list | #81 / 100 |
| Halliwell's Top 1000 (2005) | Critics' canon | #260 / 1041 |
| Ebert Great Movies (I–IV) | Critics' canon | Selected |
| 1001 Movies (2003-2024 union) | Critics' canon | Selected |