Academy Award nominee Selma, the only feature film about Martin Luther King Jr.,will be playing at The Athena Cinema for one night only.
Approximately 50 miles lie between Selma, Alabama and the state's capitol, Montgomery.
Now, imagine walking that distance.
That's exactly what Martin Luther King Jr. and thousands of peaceful protestors did in March of 1965. Although the Civil Rights Act had been passed in 1964, many black people still faced discrimination in the South. King and his supporters marched straight to the capitol to register for their right to vote.
A free screening of the 2015 Academy Award nominee Selma — a film about the historic journey — will be shown at 7 p.m., Thursday at The Athena Cinema, 20 S. Court St.
Selma is one of the only feature films about King. Works about him are mostly documentaries.
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Chrissy Anderson, a freshman studying mechanical engineering, said it is difficult to make movies about King because society “commercializes him” and a lot of people already know who he is and what he has accomplished.
“There are more aspects to the Civil Rights Movement,” she said.
Arthur Cromwell, an associate professor in the School of Media Arts and Studies, also said other civil rights activists, aside from King, should be recognized.
“Why do we have problems defaulting to Martin Luther King, who is the most accepted African-American?” Cromwell, who took part in a demonstration in Cincinnati led by King, said. “Dr. King was a pivotal point, but he was not alone. Let’s talk about the other people — let’s talk about those who aren’t celebrated.”
Cromwell added that there are not many movies about King simply “because he’s black.”
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“It’s all about what’s hot and sells,” he said. “It’s all about the bottom-line.”
The #OscarsSoWhite controversy, in which only white actors have been nominated in the Oscar’s four acting categories for the second year in a row, highlights Cromwell’s argument about the film industry. Last year, many were surprised by Selma director Ava DuVernay and lead actor David Oyelowo’s “snubs” for nominations in the directing and acting categories, respectively.
This year, celebrities — including Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith — are calling for a boycott of this year’s Oscars because of the lack of diversity.
“In this point in time in our country, we have not accepted the fact that we are multi-ethnic,” Cromwell said.
Winsome Chunnu-Brayda, the director of diversity and inclusion, said there is still a long way to go for people of color in the film industry.
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“We do not have a diverse representation,” Chunnu-Brayda said. “What we are seeing in film is not representative of the country or where the country is going in terms of racial demographics. It’s important to show the film again because it’s MLK week, but it’s also an election year."
Chunnu-Brayda said that the Black Lives Matter movement is important right now, but obtaining black rights has been an ongoing fight.
Jenny Heitsche, an undecided freshman, said OU students should go see or rewatch the movie because it would "encourage a more tight-knit community" within Athens.
"(Selma is) a historical and (is) still relevant today because black people are still being discriminated against," Heitsche said. "Watching it encourages people to be more accepting of minorities and brings people closer together."
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