SELMA: Reason #173 I Love Ava DuVernay

By Isis Asare

It is Sunday, November 16, 2014. San Francisco’s historic Castro Theater — which is at capacity — is silent. Members of the Screen Actors Guild, Producers Guild of America, and San Francisco Film Society are breathless after watching the opening scene of Selma that recounts the tragic bombing which killed four little girls on September 15, 1963. Sunday dresses and tiny feet in white church shoes are surrounded by rumble.

The fact that Selma was completed is a feat in itself. Several other attempts to create a movie on King’s life have failed. Early this year, Oliver Stone announced that Warner Brothers and DreamWorks rejected his script for a Martin Luther King, Jr. biopic after the King estate raised concerns about the mention of King’s extra-marital affairs. The scene in which Selma tackles this subject will most likely be remembered as one of the biggest accomplishments in filmmaking.

Produced by the independent studio Plan B (12 Years A Slave) and championed by actor David Oyelowo (The Butler, Lincoln), Selma took over seven years to go from script to its current state. It is scheduled to be released by Paramount Pictures on December 25. Oyelowo has long dreamt of playing King. When he first showed a test monologue to Oprah Winfrey – who plays producer and supporting actress — she responded by saying, “It’s not there yet, but I can see it.”

Lee Daniels was originally slated to direct the docu-drama that bears witness to the struggle and triumph of the SCLC’s (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) organization of the five-day, 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery to draw national attention to the extreme barriers facing African Americans trying to vote in the state of Alabama. This national attention would eventually lead President Lyndon B. Johnson to sign the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

However, it would be self-described independent filmmaker Ava DuVernay that would direct Selma. When Lee Daniels severed attachment from the project, Oyelowo recommended that DuVernay direct the film after working with her on Sundance Festival favorite Middle of Nowhere.

DuVernay’s directing, Paul Webb’s (Lincoln) writing, and Bradford Young’s (Pariah) imagery weaves a thick tapestry that wraps the audience in the pain, struggle, and hope of every member of the civil rights movement. Tessa Thompson (Dear White People), Common (LUV), and Oprah Winfrey (The Butler) embody the vibrant threads of Diane Nash, James Bevel, and Annie Lee Cooper.

With DuVernay’s direction, the audience is able to see beyond the legend of Martin Luther King, Jr. and listen beyond his speeches – which DuVernay wrote herself as the film did not have rights to King’s original speeches. DuVernay allows us to see the man that takes out the trash, dreams of stability, and worries about paying a mortgage. With DuVernay behind the camera, the audience listens to the debates of a movement comprised of several leaders that often disagreed with each other. DuVernay shows us that many people of many different backgrounds and races risked their lives, not just King.

The film garnered a five-minute standing ovation, is generating a 100% rating on RottenTomatoes.com, and there is early talk of an Oscar nomination.

Selma is sure to start a movement of its own.

Isis Asare is the founder of Sistah Sinema, a monthly event showcasing Queer Women of Color Cinema. You can access movies at their monthly events in cities across the country, or stream instantly online. Access content from www.sistahsinema.com.