SELMA, Ava DuVernay (2014) / Crossing the bridge from Jim Crow to justice

Although the Civil Rights Act of 1964 legally desegregated the South, discrimination was still rampant, making it difficult for Blacks to register to vote. In 1965, an Alabama city became the battleground in the fight for suffrage. Despite violent opposition, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his followers pressed forward on an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, and their efforts culminated with President Lyndon Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Directed by Ava DuVernay
Written by Paul Webb
Producers: Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner
Cinematography: Bradford Young
Edited by Spencer Averick
Music by Jason Moran
Release date: 25 December 2014
Running time: 2h 8m

HOW THIS WORKS
To find out where to rent or stream Selma online, visit [JustWatch.com](http://justwatch.com/) and TV.Movie. Watch it on your own during the week and then join us for our Zoom conversation Saturday, February 7. A Zoom link will appear on the right of your screen once you RSVP. (NOTE: If you can’t get that link to work, copy and paste it into the search bar of your browser.) First-timers must sign up no later than Friday 2/6 in order to ensure being admitted.

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We're well into the fiftieth Black History Month this week, first recognized nationally by President Gerald Ford in 1976 during the celebration of the United States Bicentennial. The Month traces its origins to the efforts of Black historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) to establish the second week of February as Negro History Week. This week was chosen because it coincided with the Abraham Lincoln's birthday on February 12 and that of Frederick Douglass on February 14, both of which Black communities had celebrated since the late 19th century. It's a credit to the devotion of the African-American community, not only that the Month has taken its regular place on the American calendar, but also that it prevails as an event acknowledged by every race, color, and creed in our nation's life.

Selma then, with its vivid dramatization of one of the Civil Rights Movement's greatest victories, is a welcome choice for our conversation this week. But current events make its choice more compelling still. As demonstrations against fascist occupation and actions in defense of immigrants, virtually all of them nonviolent, surge through the streets of Minneapolis, questions of the responsibilities of citizens to resist an oppressive government rise to the fore. Identifying with demonstrators there, we may recognize ourselves in the faces of the ordinary Black folks in Selma, astonished and anxious to find themselves standing on the front lines of history. We may feel our guts churn as Black leaders confront tradeoffs between safety and success in what they can ask of their people, much as the call for "ICE Out Now" puts targets on protestors' backs. In a word, in this moment, the boundaries between 2026 Minneapolis and 1965 Selma have collapsed. The lessons we take from Selma will illuminate for us our path ahead ahead as American citizens in this fraught hour.

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TRAILER, RATINGS, EXTRAS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPgs2zshD9Y

Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer 99%, based on 310 reviews
Metacritic: Metascore 79 (generally favorable), based on 52 reviews

Selma was nominated for Best Picture at the 87th Academy Awards. It won the award for Best Original Song for "Glory," written and performed by Common and John Legend. The song refers to the 2014 protests in Ferguson, Missouri, following the shooting of Michael Brown by F.P.D. officer Darren Wilson.

Because in 2009 Martin Luther King Jr.'s estate had licensed the rights to his speeches to DreamWorks and Warner Bros. for an untitled project to be produced by Steven Spielberg, Ava DuVernay took up the task of rewriting all of them included in the 2008 script by Paul Webb. As Wikipedia notes, "DuVernay drafted alternative speeches that evoke the historic ones without violating the copyright. She recalled spending hours listening to King's words while hiking the canyons of Los Angeles. While she did not think she would 'get anywhere close to just the beauty and that nuance of his speech patterns', she did identify some of King's basic structure, such as a tendency to speak in triplets (saying one thing in three different ways). DuVernay did not receive a screenwriting credit on the finished film due to a stipulation within Webb's original contract that entitled him to the sole credit."

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BLURBS & ATTITUDES
Selma is vital correspondence, filmmaking lived on the streets where brutal facts were ignored then reported, and now snatched back from history to sustain a spirit few films can or will possess. It is stunning humanistic cinema on a mainstream scale... It has inventiveness, urgency, humor, and most of all emotion that draws effortless parallels rather than leaving its lesson up on the screen. ∞ Charlie Schmidlin, The Playlist

David Oyelowo has never given a better performance. He seems to penetrate into King’s soul and camps out there for two hours. He’s tremendous, of course, when electrifying his congregation at the podium, but a sense of fatigue is even more paramount. ∞ Tim Robey, The Telegraph

With Selma, DuVernay has pulled off a tricky feat, a movie based on historical events that never feels dull, worthy, or lifeless; it hangs together as a story and not just part of a lesson plan. The movie is at once intimate and grand in scope. ∞ Stephanie Zacharek, Village Voice

The battle it documents is both a cornerstone of the past and a reflection of ongoing struggles. DuVernay infuses Selma with that dichotomy, never forgetting how Selma, the place, was a pledge to march ahead.∞ Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News

DuVernay stages well-known public events like the “Bloody Sunday” march with scrupulousness, scope, and a gut-wrenching visceral power. But Selma’s true success is as a chamber piece, not a thundering historical epic. ∞ Scott Tobias, The Dissolve

Oyelowo takes full advantage of his close physical resemblance to King, but he wisely avoids mere impersonation, delivering a performance that’s as sensitive as it is spellbinding. ∞ Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

It is not hyperbole to say Oyelowo is a revelation. The British actor brings phenomenal humanity, grace and torment to a historical figure who once seemed to loom too large a legend to make flesh on screen. ∞ Barbara VanDenburgh, Arizona Republic

Like Lincoln, written by Tony Kushner and directed by Steven Spielberg, DuVernay's Selma ushers us into the world of the backstage, back-room and back-scratching political process, dramatizing how the sausage was actually made. ∞ Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

Selma pierces a Civil Rights milestone with honesty, avoiding damning accusations or easy schmaltz to reflect true human triumph. With expansive shots of protests in motion and intimate, shadowy close-ups of King locked in jail, DuVernay's direction brings to life what many only know in black-and-white snapshots. ∞ Matt Patches, IGN

By focusing on the power of cannily staged collective action to turn the tide of public opinion, Selma achieves a contemporary relevance that few historical dramas can — especially those built around real-life figures as encrusted in layers of hagiography as MLK. ∞ Dana Stevens, Slate

The film's timing, in short, could hardly be more resonant. And DuVernay's most remarkable accomplishment may be that with such passion inspiring material, she has made such a measured, resolute and levelheaded film.. ∞ Bob Mondello, NPR

Even if you think you know what’s coming, Selma hums with suspense and surprise. Packed with incident and overflowing with fascinating characters, it is a triumph of efficient, emphatic cinematic storytelling. And much more than that, of course. ∞ A.O. Scott, New York Times

Intelligently written, vividly shot, tightly edited, sharply acted, the film represents a rare example of craftsmanship working to produce a deeply moving piece of history. ∞ Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter