Fox Searchlight, which distributes Nate Parker’s slavery drama, said giving filmgoers the opportunity to register ‘encourages everyone to be part of US history’

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

In honor of Tuesday’s National Voter Registration day in the US, distribution company Fox Searchlight has launched an in-theater registration initiative tied to Nate Parker’s slavery drama The Birth of a Nation.

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Beginning with early promotional screenings on 27 September, filmgoers will also be able to register to vote at participating cinemas during The Birth of Nation’s opening weekend between 7-9 October.

Fox Searchlight said in a statement that “the objective for the initiative is to encourage everyone to be a part of US history by highlighting everyone’s right to vote, encouraging registration and underscoring that their voices and opinions matter”.

“This presidential election will be especially challenging, as many current laws lack the protection of the Voting Rights Act of 1965,” continues the statement. “The act was passed to overcome many legal barriers that individuals faced when exercising their right to vote but section four was ruled unconstitutional by the US supreme court in 2013.”



The campaign is supported by a PSA with much of the film’s cast, including Colman Domingo, Aunjanue Ellis, Aja Naomi King and Gabrielle Union.

Says Union in the clip: “You matter. Your voice matters. Your vote matters.”

Parker, who has been embroiled in controversy regarding a 17-year-old rape allegation months following his film’s rapturous reception at the Sundance film festival, also makes an appearance, saying: “No one has the right to prevent you from participating in what makes America’s democracy so great: the right to vote.”

The Birth of Nation, which sold to Fox Searchlight at Sundance for a record $17.5m, centers on Nat Turner, a former slave who led a violent revolt in 1831 to free slaves in Virginia.