CONTROVERSIAL DIRECTOR TO ATTEND VANCOUVER FESTIVAL

Controversy- plagued filmmaker Nate Parker

is expected to attend the Vancouver International Film Festival this weekend for The Birth of a Nation. Organizers say Parker, who co- wrote, directed and starred in the slaverebellion drama, will speak before a screening on Saturday evening. The film has been overshadowed by a 17- year- old rape allegation involving Parker and his co-writer Jean Celestin while they were students at Penn State University. Parker was acquitted in the case. Celestin was initially found guilty of sexual assault in the same case, but the conviction was later overturned. The accuser killed herself in 2012. Earlier this month, Parker sidestepped questions about the controversy during a Toronto International Film Festival news conference.