Promotional press conference at Toronto international film festival for Parker’s The Birth of a Nation also called off

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Controversy continues to surround Nate Parker’s slavery epic The Birth of a Nation after the American Film Institute (AFI) postponed a screening and a Q&A, and a press conference to promote the film at the Toronto international film festival was axed.

The story of Nate Parker's rape accuser and a university's cold shoulder Read more

The director, whose film won the top award at Sundance in January and was an early tip for an Oscar nod, has been embroiled in the fallout from revelations about a rape case that dated back to his time as a university student.

Parker was accused of raping a female student with his Penn State roommate Jean McGianni Celestin in 1999. He was acquitted after claiming the encounter to be consensual, while Celestin, who shares a writing credit with Parker on The Birth of a Nation, was convicted. His charge was overturned after an appeal.

Last week it was reported that the woman who made the allegations had killed herself in 2012.

Parker was scheduled to face the press at the Toronto festival, where the film will still have several screenings, but a spokesperson for the event told Deadline that “it’s definitely not going to happen”.

AFI dean Jan Schuette said he had received many “passionate points of view” about the institution’s screening, which was planned for Friday. He added: “I believe it is essential that we discuss these issues together – messenger and message, gender, race and more – before we see the film.”

Michelle Hooper of Fox Searchlight told Deadline that the company “rarely [does] press conferences at TIFF for films that are not a world premiere”, and added that Parker is still planning to conduct Q&As after screenings of the film at the festival.