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Friday, January 9, 2015
MAKING MOVIE HISTORY
The Inside Agitators, 2015
David Oyelowo
on the "Selma" set last summer as Dr. Martin Luther King. Mr. Oyelowo
brought Ava DuVernay on board to direct the excellent drama.
The British actor starred in Ms. Duvernay's 2012 film "Middle Of Nowhere."
Paramount Pictures
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
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Friday,
January 9,
2015
Today is a momentous day in American film history, and Hollywood -- at least
Paramount Pictures' corner of Hollywood -- should be celebrating it.
"Selma," Ava
DuVernay's powerful and supremely eloquent masterpiece, bows in wide release in
the U.S. and Canada.
Before moviegoers settle in today, "Selma" has ridden a tidal wave of strong
support. Universal critical acclaim across America. "Selma" leads
all films, including "Boyhood,"
with the highest rating of 100%
(now 98% and fluctuating) on Rotten Tomatoes,
the movie critic aggregate rating site. Metacritic, boasting a few of the
nation's top critics, once had "Selma" as high as a 91 rating. (As of this
article it was
89.)
The story of how Ava DuVernay
got "Selma" off the ground is fascinating.
Ms. DuVernay, whose AFFRM distribution network has released several films, was
in publicity when the film she would later direct was being passed on by several
directors eventually including
Lee Daniels and Spike Lee. The opportunity to sit in a
newly-vacant director's chair came. David Oyelowo was attached to star
five years ago. He had starred in Ms. DuVernay's
"Middle Of Nowhere" in 2012. The British
actor lobbied for the director to direct him once again.
Once Mr. Oyelowo recruited Oprah Winfrey, whom he co-starred with in
"The Butler" in
2013, the path to Ms. DuVernay was paved.
Ms. Winfrey was the coup de grace. She and Mr. Oyelowo lobbied.
Oscar winners Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, all from producing
outfit Plan B, were in. Ms. DuVernay was too. "Selma" started
filming in late May 2014. The budget? Just $20 million. No
problem for Ms. DuVernay, who made prior films for between $20,000 and $200,000.
Like any perfectionist, Ms. DuVernay was busy readying and putting finishing
touches on "Selma" right up until last month. When critics saw "Selma" the
end titles hadn't been completed. Paramount got screeners ready for the
Golden Globes (this Sunday) and next Thursday's Oscar nominations.
"It's been only five years since making films. I didn't go to film school.
I'm all self-taught. I learned from DVD commentaries," Ms. DuVernay told
Roland
Martin this week in New York City at the premiere of "Selma".
All of this is part of a remarkable journey for Ms. DuVernay and "Selma".
"Selma" chronicles the movement to getting Blacks across the Southern Bible Belt
the right to vote in the 1960s. The film features Mr. Oyelowo's majestic
performance as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It is the first time a feature
film anywhere has been done that examines Dr. King. The movie however, is
not called "King", as Ms. DuVernay has often pointed out. The film is
about people with multiple voices who come together amidst differences to
strategize and force America to reckon with its violent and unjust ways, through
non-violent civil disobedience. The movement made history in 1965.
History is being made today. A Black woman director's film, distributed by
a big-name Hollywood studio, is opening across the United States and Canada on
2,200 screens. It's on the most screens a Black woman directors film has
ever opened on. You will have to go back a long, long way to find a
big-name Hollywood studio distributing a film directed by a Black woman.
You may not even find one in your odyssey search. Paramount may be the
very first with Ms. DuVernay's "Selma".
Granted, mini-major studios like Fox Searchlight and others have given the
directors Amma Assante, Kasi Lemmons and Gina Prince-Bythewood the green light.
Yet to the best of my knowledge Ms. DuVernay, five years removed from movie
public relations, has, through a big Hollywood studio, a grand stage with her
most grand film.
"Selma" is an inspirational film, as is its director. Ava DuVernay, today,
with "Selma" and her own meteoric rise as a filmmaker -- and self-starter -- has
inspired millions of boys and girls, notably Black boys and Black girls, to just
go for it.
If "Selma" does well -- and there's no reason to think that it won't --
Paramount and other big Hollywood studios, even with their shifting tent-pole
paradigm, will have no choice but to open the doors for more women, including
more Black women, to direct films. At least I hope so. I don't want
to be naive. Yet "Selma" stands to be very profitable. There's
demand the world over for it. Money is the language movie studios
understand. While many white male directors make lesser, more unprofitable
films for ten times the money Ms. DuVernay was given, the belt is tightened for
her and other Black and women filmmakers of all races.
Ms. DuVernay's independent spirit and independent sensibility, makes "Selma" a
distinct entry for a huge Hollywood film studio. Now, with awards buzz and
all manner of stories around "Selma", the film is on the verge of making Ava
DuVernay a power to be respected in Hollywood. The doors will need to
remain open behind her.
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