On Jan 9, Selma, a movie portraying the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will hit the big screen. It documents King’s campaign to create racial equality, voting rights and to help spread integrity on his famous march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965. The film attempts recreating President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The film is directed by Ava DuVernay and stars David Oyelowo as King. Giovanna Ribisi plays the role of Lee C. White and Tim Roth plays the part of George Wallace. King’s wife, Coretta Scott King, is played by Carmen Ejogo.
The all-star cast doesn’t stop there. Martin Sheen plays the role of Frank Minis Johnson. Oprah Winfrey plays Annie Lee Cooper and Tom Wilkinson plays President Johnson.
It has been rated PG 13 for language and occasional strong language.
Ejogo has played the role of Coretta Scott King before. Her first time was in the HBO film “Boycott.” This movie is also the second one in which Oyelowo, Winfrey and Cuba Gooding, Jr. star together. They played together in, “The Butler,” another movie about the Civil Rights Movement.
It will surely be interesting to see how the general public reacts to the film as many people will likely disagree with how King is portrayed.