If you watched How to Get Away with Murder Thursday, you were treated to the first trailer for Selma, the Oprah Winfrey-produced film starring David Oyelowo, Cuba Gooding Jr. and, of course Winfrey herself.
If you didn’t get a chance to see it, click the picture below to check out the trailer (first premiering on Yahoo). Also, if you’ve been keeping up with America’s current problem with voter restrictions, learn how far we’ve progressed/regressed by taking this literacy test, representative of the literacy tests designed to keep black people from voting.
Here’s what Paramount had to say about the test:
Voting is a topic at the forefront of culture. Whether debating the effects of voter ID laws or discussing the importance of voting to push for more police regulation, we find ourselves at a pivotal time in history. As we approach the theatrical release of SELMA and the 50th anniversary of the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, we take a reflective look at where America would be without this powerful movement via an infographic that simply asks the question, “Can you vote?”
Also, read what director Ava DuVernay had to say about the film and the history it portrays at Yahoo.
Selma comes to select cities Christmas Day, nationwide Jan. 9.
SELMA is the story of a movement. The film chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement. Director Ava DuVernay’s SELMA tells the story of how the revered leader and visionary Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his brothers and sisters in the movement prompted change that forever altered history.
Starring David Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Cuba Gooding Jr., Alessandro Nivola, Giovanni Ribisi Common, Carmen Ejogo, Lorraine Toussaint, with Tim Roth and Oprah Winfrey as “Annie Lee Cooper.”
Directed by Ava DuVernay
Written by Paul Webb
Produced by Christian Colson, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Oprah Winfrey
Executive Producers Cameron McCracken, Nik Bower,
Diarmuid McKeown, Ava DuVernay, Paul Garnes, Nan Morales
Background left to right: Tessa Thompson plays Diane Nash, Omar Dorsey plays James Orange, Colman Domingo plays Ralph Abernathy, David Oyelowo plays Martin Luther King, Jr., André Holland plays Andrew Young, Corey Reynolds plays Rev. C.T. Vivian, and Lorraine Toussaint plays Amelia Boynton in SELMA, from Paramount Pictures and Pathé.