The start of the new year is usually filled with hope, new resolutions, motivation for a fresh start, and good intentions. This year, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is the second federal holiday of the year after New Year's Day, also falls on the same day as the presidential inauguration, marking the third time in history the two events overlapped (the others being the inaugurations of former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama).
Many of us are familiar with the teachings of MLK and the legacy of activism, interracial allyship, and service he bestowed on his generation and the ones that followed. Ten years ago, the film Selma, directed by Ava DuVernay, hit the box office. In a turn away from traditional Hollywood biopics, the film dives into Dr. King’s fight for equal voting rights and the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
DuVernay became the first Black woman to direct a film nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award, and led a number of incredible collaborations, including on the film’s music, costumes, and production. The film was nominated for Best Picture and also won Best Original Song for “Glory” by Common and John Legend. In the drama, CULTURED Art + Film cover star LaKeith Stanfield also delivers a remarkable performance as activist Jimmie Lee Jackson, embodying the devastating aftermath of senseless violence and murder during the fight for Civil Rights.
On Saturday, I went to a special anniversary screening of the film at the Academy Museum. My first real outing since the tragic LA fires, I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout and the mood in the room, thrumming with the desire to hold space with one another. Proceeds from the event itself joined ongoing Motion Picture Television Fund Wildfire Relief contributions, and all of us were happy to survive one disaster and come together to celebrate the legacy of an important figure on the eve of another divisive change in U.S. leadership.
Film critic Elvis Mitchell moderated the post-screening discussion, which included DuVernay, lead actor David Oyelowo, Wendell Pierce, Niecy Nash, Omar J. Dorsey, Henry G. Sanders, and Stephen James, in addition to Academy Award-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter and producer Paul Garnes. Oyowelo, sporting an “LA Strong” T-shirt in solidarity with recent fire victims, shared his journey to portraying King, a role he felt destined to play years before production even started. Initially cast in the role by producer Lee Daniels, who departed the film due to scheduling and budget challenges, the actor kept the film together until the right producers and cast serendipitously came together.
DuVernay shared, “He was embodying something there, and the performance 10 years later still gives me chills." The late Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis also visited the film set during production, and as Oyowelo recounts their meeting, he shared that Lewis said to him, “Dr. King, it is so good to see you again."
Carter shared her behind-the-scenes stories of pulling the project together, saying, “We were out there with Ebony magazines and all kinds of things … reminding ourselves of the details of people who marched and how they looked and where they stood. One of the most beautiful memories that I have of making this film was talking to some of the people who were children when they marched with the adults over the Edmund Pettus Bridge."
Nash, who portrayed author and activist Richie Jean Jackson, also recounted, “I fell right into her… I’ve been a mother a long time, so it's easy to mother other people, to be there for other people so I immediately understood exactly what she was trying to say.” Omar Dorsey, who played civil rights activist James Orange, shared, “I felt the presence of elders while shooting," while Wendell Pierce, who portrayed activist and MLK aide Reverend Hosea Williams, said of looking out over the Alabama River, “I could hear the souls say, 'Tell my story.'"
Perhaps the most impactful moment of the screening was the introduction of Henry G. Sanders. The oldest cast member in the group, Sanders expressed his deep gratitude for the opportunity and DuVernay changing his life, who recounted Sanders's inspiring story of survival from the Vietnam War to overcoming prostate cancer and triple bypass surgery, and most recently, the LA fires which took his home just over a week ago. Sanders survived it all, graced the stage with his castmates, and received a standing ovation from the crowd. Being there, in the middle of a theater in LA after a terrible city-wide disaster with people from all backgrounds, standing in solidarity and support of one another is a vision Dr. King would have loved to see.
