Oprah Winfrey, Cast and Crew of ‘Selma’ to March in Alabama on MLK Day

AP Photo/Paramount Pictures
AP Photo/Paramount Pictures

The cast and crew of Selma will march with local residents in Alabama on Sunday at an event commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

According to theWrap, producer Oprah Winfrey, director Ava DuVernay, and stars David Oyelowo and Common will all participate in Sunday’s march across the Edmund Pettis Bridge.

The march will reportedly take place as part of an all-day event celebrating the film and the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. The day will begin with a question-and-answer session with the cast and crew of the film at Selma High School, after which Selma Mayor George Evans will offer a prayer before the group sets out for the bridge.

After the march, the film’s local cast and crew and state officials will be invited to attend a free screening of the film at the Selma Walton Theater. That free screening joins two other free screenings at the theater set for Monday afternoon, on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday.

“I’m honored that Paramount Pictures and the cast has put Selma to the forefront of the nation again during MLK weekend,” Mayor Evans said in a Paramount Pictures statement. “The dream marches on.”

Selma, a film about Dr. King’s efforts in organizing a march for voting rights in the Alabama city during a three-month period in 1965, was nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Picture and Best Original Song, on Thursday. However, critics have slammed the Academy’s “snubbing” of director Ava DuVernay for Best Director and David Oyelowo for Best Actor. The backlash was widespread; the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite trended on Twitter shortly after the nominations were announced.

President Obama is set to screen the film at the White House on Friday.

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