5. Birth of a Nation
Birth of a Nation broke cinematic ground upon its release in 1915, codifying many cinematic techniques used to this day such as camera angles, flashbacks and nighttime photography. President Woodrow Wilson gave it the prestigious honour of being the first film screened at the White House. None of these feats changes the fact that the film is a vile and racist ode to white supremacy that portrays the Ku Klux Klan in a heroic light; so much so that the Klan used it as a recruitment tool. D.W. Griffith's film met with widespread protests when it hit theatres and its status among film scholars remains contentious to this day.