AFI FEST 2014 Announces First Look At Ava DuVernay’s SELMA

Left to right: David Oyelowo plays Martin Luther King, Jr. and Carmen Ejogo plays Coretta Scott King ©Paramount Pictures

AFI FEST 2014 presented by Audi, a program of the American Film Institute, announced today that it will offer a first look at director Ava DuVernay’s highly anticipated film SELMA on Tuesday, November 11. The presentation will feature 30 minutes of exclusive footage from the film followed by a conversation with producers Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, DuVernay and actor David Oyelowo at the Egyptian Theatre.

SELMA, from Paramount Pictures, Pathé and Harpo Films, 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 Lyndon B. Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the Civil Rights Movement. DuVernay’s SELMA tells the story of how the revered leader and visionary Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Oyelowo) and his brothers and sisters in the movement prompted change that forever altered history.

The film is produced by Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner. The film is written by Paul Webb and directed by Ava DuVernay.

AFI FEST will take place November 6 through 13 in Hollywood, CA, at the Dolby Theatre, the TCL Chinese Theatres, the Egyptian Theatre and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

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.