Selma already scored four Golden Globe nominations, five Independent Spirit Awards nominations, a slew of critics association honors and I’d like to bet it’ll add even more accolades to the list as we move through awards season.  The film is actually the very first major motion picture to feature Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) as the protagonist and also the first to chronicle his efforts during the voting rights movement.  Selma focuses on what happens when Dr. King tries to hold a peaceful march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama in the spring of 1965 in hopes of ending the widespread obstruction of black Americans’ right to vote.

With Selma now playing in select theaters, I got the opportunity to sit down with director Ava DuVernay and star David Oyelowo to discuss their personal connections to the material, showing the lesser-known sides of Dr. King, the timely release of the film, DuVernay’s shot selection and much more.  Catch it all in the video interview after the jump, and you can also click here to check out the trailer for the film, which is actually one of my favorite trailers of the year.

We’ll have full interviews with DuVernay and Oyelowo as well as Common, Carmen Ejogo, Tim Roth and Tom Wilkinson for you as we near the January 9th wide release of the film, but for now, here’s the supercut of my chats with DuVernay and Oyelowo:

 

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