NEW YORK (AP) — Fox Searchlight will hold voter registration enrollment in theater lobbies ahead of screenings of the Nat Turner slave rebellion drama "The Birth of a Nation."

Though the film has been overshadowed by a 17-year-old rape case involving Nate Parker, the film's director and star, Fox Searchlight is trying to shift the attention surrounding "The Birth of a Nation." The specialty film distributor said Monday the voter initiative will roll out nationwide during promotional screenings on Sept. 27, National Voter Registration Day, as well as on opening weekend, Oct. 7-9.

Fox Searchlight said some 20 theater chains and independent theaters are participating.

The film dramatizes the events leading up to the Turner-led revolt in 1831 Virginia that was defeated, killing some 60 slaves.