Nat Turner—the infamous leader of a short-lived but brutal slave rebellion—is one of the pivotal figures in America’s knotty history of racial conflict. Venerated by some, reviled by others, Turner’s name consistently provokes heated debate, and his story has inspired countless literary and scholarly interpretations. Beginning with his own contentious confessions, supposedly orated to a Virginia lawyer just before Turner’s execution, the film depicts his life in historical accounts, plays, novels, and films, each treatment contesting the basic assumptions of the other. Interspersing innovative reenactments of these treatments with interviews and archival images, this hybrid documentary explores the complex layering and contradictory accounts of Turner’s life and legacy, making Nat Turner less a film about a historical figure than a film about a figure lost among competing histories.  TW