Selma was a film released in 2014 by director Ava Duvernay. The film follows Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. after winning is Nobel Peace Prize and his organized March from Selma to Montgomery. The film is a harrowing look at the Civil Rights Movement, that leaves the viewer with a deeper understanding of what it is to organize a resistance when there are real world consequences.
Duvernay showcases how news footage helped shape the march, encouraging other people including white people, to join in on the March. Similarly, media played a part in how people felt about Vietnam as well and continues to shape real world policies. Only in today’s world, it is social media that reflects the growing concerns of people.
There are many intense scenes in the film, including those where protestors end up beaten and or killed. The most intense one is the scene of the children coming down the stairs of their church, where a bomb goes off. Portraying the 16th Street Baptist Church killing that took place September 15th, 1963.
The film is both inspirational and difficult to watch, as it should be, but provides a reminder that we are not that far from the events that transpired and are still a work in progress. An inspiring and important film which does not shy away from difficult times.
The film itself as a whole is important, but there was one scene that really stood out to me in particular. Which was a scene where they were planning the march to Selma, and the organizers got excited because Nina Simone and Joan Baez were coming.
Celebrities were lending their voice to this racially charged incident. And most people think legends achieve that stance by accident, but usually it’s because they have a history of doing iconic things behind them. And 1960s Alabama was as dangerous a place to be as 2026 United States of America. The same racial tensions that have been on going in our country are amplified now, and the history books will remember who stood up and did something and who didn’t.
Selma is available on Netflix for streaming, and I highly recommend it.
