Will Smith's new thriller Emancipation got its first screening in D.C. on Oct. 1. Based on a true story, the movie follows the life of Peter, an enslaved man who runs away from his plantation in search of his family. He eventually joins the Union Army and during a medical exam, his bare back, which was severely scarred due to a near-fatal whipping by his former plantation's overseer, was photographed and published by The Independent, displaying the barbarity of slavery in America.

The NAACP and Apple screened the Antoine Fuqua-directed film during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 51st Annual Legislative Conference for representatives from the Congressional Black Caucus, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the Divine 9 (Historically Black Fraternities and Sororities), National Council of Negro Women, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Power Rising and #WinWithBlackWomen, among other social impact leaders.

“Throughout my career, I’ve turned down many films that were set in slavery,” Smith said at the screening, per Billboard. “I never wanted to show us like that. And then this picture came along. And this is not a film about slavery. This is a film about freedom. This is a film about resilience. This is a film about faith. This is a film about the heart of a man — what could be called the first viral image. Cameras had just been created, and the image of whipped Peter went around the world. It was a rallying cry against slavery, and this was a story that exploded and blossomed in my heart that I wanted to be able to deliver to you in a way that only Antoine Fuqua could deliver.”