Fox Searchlight released the latest promotional poster for its upcoming slave drama The Birth of a Nation on Friday that features the movie’s main character, slave rebellion leader Nat Turner (as played by Nate Parker), being hung with a noose fashioned from an American flag.

Fox Searchlight

Fox Searchlight

The Birth of a Nation — which stole the show at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, winning both the audience and grand jury prize awards  — revolves around the 1831 slave rebellion engineered by Nat Turner in the antebellum South.

Fox Searchlight snatched up the film at Sundance for a festival record $17.5 million, and the film is already widely considered to be the frontrunner for Best Picture at next year’s Academy Awards.

The latest poster was released Friday on Jay-Z’s Tidal streaming service.

In addition to starring as Turner, Parker also wrote and directed the film.

The first trailer for The Birth of a Nation was released online last month. The film is due out in theaters October 7.

 

Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum