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 slave-rebellion drama, will speak before a screening of the film at the fest 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 when the accuser declined to testify for a retrial. The accuser killed herself in 2012.
Earlier this month, Parker sidestepped questions about the controversy during a Toronto International Film Festival press conference for "The Birth of a Nation."
He said he didn't want to "hijack" the discussion about the film by talking about his personal life.
He also noted that he was just one person involved in the film, and wanted to emphasize the larger contributions of the cast and crew.
The film won key prizes at the Sundance Film Festival in January and was sold to Fox Searchlight for a record $17.5 million.
VIFF runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 14. The guest list also includes Mia Kirshner, Tatiana Maslany, John Mann and Eric McCormack.
The opening gala is the Canadian-Irish film "Maudie."
This content appears as provided to The Globe by the originating wire service. It has not been edited by Globe staff.