Discussing Selma‘s role in educating American children about the past, and advancements in the film industry that allow for such films to be made, star David Oyelowo described himself and helmer Ava DuVernay as “cinemactivists.” The comment came during a press conference this evening for the Martin Luther King drama that’s showing in the Berlinale Special section here. The pair, joined by co-star Colman Domingo, spoke thoughtfully about Selma, race relations, and how Germany has dealt with its own dark past. Among the other subjects discussed was Selma‘s Oscar nominations — or lack thereof.
Asked what she thought about the Oscar noms, DuVernay said, “I think we were nominated in some categories and not in others. People act like we got dragged out of there with nothing.” DuVernay added she hadn’t had any expectations for herself. “I’m a realist and there was no precedent for a black woman director to be nominated, so it wasn’t going to change with me.” She did note, though, that despite a Best Picture nomination and critical love for Selma, she’s not been inundated with new opportunities. “I don’t think I’m getting as many offers as my counterpart Morten Tyldum,” she quipped.
She added she was “hurt” that Oyelowo wasn’t nominated as Best Actor “because I know what it took to get that performance.” But, she allowed, “I don’t need anyone to tell me it’s one of the best performances of the year.”
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Oyelowo said he wasn’t targeting the Academy specifically, but commented, “It takes time for institutions to catch up to change.” He noted Selma is “officially the best reviewed of the year” and that 370K students have gone to see it, making it “something that transcends awards.”
But the actor allowed that Hollywood is changing somewhat with pictures like Selma getting made — and he thinks President Obama has something to do with it. “I really link my personal career to his time in office,” he said. America and the world, he suggested, are looking for context as to how the U.S. achieved having a black president. Films like 12 Years A Slave and others “are being greenlit because people are saying, ‘OK, let’s open this up a bit.’ I say a bit because there is much work to be done.”
Speaking to the German press corp, Oyelowo said it was “very poignant to be in Germany because this is a country that has dealt with its dark past.” He said he was surprised to have learned that both Imitation Game and Inglourious Basterds have done very well here given their subject matter. Recalling an Auschwitz memorial he saw on the way in from the airport, he said it was “amazing to see these beacons of repentance, of saying ‘never again’… Germany has done that wonderful thing of being repentant for the past. We don’t have them as far as I can see in America.”
Selma‘s overseas box office will tell its own story. With about $50M in domestic takings, it is just beginning its international roll out with Fox UK releasing this past weekend to a solid $1.2M at 361 locations. DuVernay said, “People tell us no one wants to watch movies about black people outside of America. We’re constantly told ‘no one cares, no one wants to see them.’”
She is next making a TV series for Oprah Winfrey’s OWN, and plans to reteam with Oyelowo for a love story/murder mystery feature set during Hurricane Katrina which is in development. She intends to keep telling stories and infusing them with her activism, she said. “Whether I’m doing an episode of Scandal or a fashion video for Prada, I’m always trying to say something and push it forward.”
Seriously, these two need to take a seat. Jeff Wright and Paul Winfield played King just as well and they didn’t have to alter history to do it.
It’s not a history lesson, it’s a well-made movie that was based on a true story. Selma seemed like a much bigger undertaking than Foxcatcher and DuVernay directed it well. She should’ve been nominated. Probably because most of the directors in the academy who vote on the director nominations didn’t watch it.
If only the studio didn’t fuck up and get screeners out…
Certainly not a history lesson when they are falsifying LBJ’s record, because the producer feels she is entitled to her interpretation of history, no matter how erroneous. Perhaps, but doesn’t mean she gets to have an Oscar…
Well stated.
Make this story stop.
why? what story would you like to read about instead? sunshine and daisies? we are the world? the sun will come out tomorrow?
How about anything except how race is at the heart of this snub?
These people are joke, this story is so burnt out: racial fatigue is an understatement
why? why would you think that? because you don’t want to hear about it? or because you think it no longer exists? either way, there’s no joke here.
And let’s be real, his portrayal of MLK was not that great. It seems like a lot of people around town are afraid to acknowledge this.
enough with the race-baiting Oscar-snub remarks. Build a bridge and get over it. What about all the white contenders that got snubbed? Clint Eastwood, Jake Gyllenhaal, Sienna Miller, The Lego Movie, Ralph Fiennes, Jennifer Anniston, etc. Should they feel any better because there are white? Maybe we should just let Kanye West weigh in at this point. It’s a subjective medium. It’s not a footrace. You can’t tell people what they like or what they think is best. Maybe you should get into this business because you want to make art, not win awards.
Yes! This! This story has been an embarrassment.
“build a bridge” and “get over it” are mutually exclusive. so pick one. do you want to build a bridge or do you want people to get over it? the latter makes the former impossible.
“Build and bridge” and “Get over it” are not mutually exclusive. Terrence, why don’t you first build a bridge, and then get over it. At the very least, learn vocabulary before making dumb comments.
Jake, why are you provoking people on this comment board trying to act smart and insulting the intelligence of others?
In the context of the original comment, Jenn said “build a bridge and get over it” to basically disregard what many feel was a snub by the Oscars to overlook “Selma.” Terrence challenged Jenn’s lame choice of words by saying we’re making pathways (bridges) but we’re not going to disregard issues when we feel like wrong had been done (get over it). Get it?
Now get off your high horse and go back to school before I give you another wuppin.’
I guess I should have added “get a sense of humor.” Here’s how it goes” You build a bridge, and then you “get” over it. As in cross over it. See, it’s figurative, not literal. There’s nothing mutually exclusive about it.
And still the liberal media is on SELMA. The movie bombed at the box office and is already gone.
The movie hardly bombed. It made at least 46M in the US and cost about 20M to make. Granted, a movie has to make at least 2 1/2 times its cost to be considered a money-maker (to cover marketing and distribution costs). Foxcatcher has only made about 12M in the US. Theory of Everything made about 30M in the US. The movies based on fact that did particularly well in the US were American Sniper (282M) and Imitation Game (75M). You might decide not to like the movie, that’s up to you, but it’s pathetic to lie like that – you’ve been listening to Faux too long.
Exactly. People keep happily stating the movie “bombed” but it’s not a bomb by any means. I don’t get the blind hatred of this movie.
Considering theaters kerep half of the box-office and you can expect at least US$ 10 million in P&A, this movie needs US$ 60 million to break even.
Absolutely true. In no way was this film a bomb.
it’s not blind hatred – but I think people are sick of being told that it’s a great movie that they are supposed to love and be in awe of – and how dare they not nominate it for everything. What if they think it’s just an ok movie? Maybe even MOW quality? And 46 million isn’t great considering all the hype and Oprah’s backing.
But, again, by no means a bomb. Sure, maybe slightly disappointing. It’s still yet to open in many foreign territories, anyway. Also, I don’t think people are lauding it any more than the other very well received movies of the year, like Birdman and Boyhood for examples. So many people are acting like Selma was just some shit movie, when audiences and critics alike overwhelmingly loved the film. Sure, there are plenty people who don’t like it, but there’s nothing wrong with the many people who do love it, lamenting the fact that it isn’t getting as much recognition. Imagine if Birdman, Boyhood, or any of the other big Oscar films only walked away with a couple noms… people would be talking about it just as much.
So tired of race baiters. Give it a rest. Let us all just get along.
hard to do that with comments like that. because the problem is we don’t. and “giving it a rest” isn’t going to make that happen without offering up an alternative “how”.
People don’t deserve Oscars for being Black.
Selma just was not that good.
How about you stop being racist by defining everything by race? That’s an easy way to end racism.
“Race baiting : the unfair use of statements about race to try to influence the actions or attitudes of a particular group of people.” …..How is this race-baiting? People are asking them questions related to race, and they’re answering them…
That’s just willful ignorance. As if DuVernay hasn’t been all over the media suggesting race is at the heart of her supposed snub. Nice try.
Furthermore, providing the definition of race baiting in your comment couldn’t possibly support my position more if you tried. It’s “unfair” to suggest that DuVernay not getting a directing nom is race-based thus “influencing the actions or attitudes” of the general public.
Your reading skills are poor. Your debating skills… worse.
Race baiting?! Unless you’ve been profiled by cops in wealthy neighborhoods, condescended to by country club idiots, or followed in department stores because of your colour, then sit aaaaalllll the way down with your wish to just ‘all get along’. If you HAVE experienced these and other aggravations, then you’re clearly delusional. And Selma is a great, great movie.
what I find hilarious is that Hollywood is such a liberal, red-state-hating town, so when something like this happens, it’s not really sure what to do. For once, Hollywood can’t blame the Republicans because they don’t control movie-land. But for all the liberalism in this town, it’s still a male-white-controlled industry. how do the libs explain that? Jon Stewart can be as smug and smarmy as he wants, but his category at the Emmys is always a bunch of white guys over 40. He’s part of the problem, too. Sorry, guys, you can’t blame Fox News and the Republicans for this one.
The best is that DuVernay lost the directing award at the NAACP Image Awards. Like, WHAT? You call the Oscars racist, but look at DuVernay not even winning at the NAACP.
What’s with all these negative comments? If you’re not interested in this story, don’t read. The article is about comments they made based on questions reporters/journalists are asking them. Answering questions about race, and then Deadline reporting on them aren’t race-baiting.
I’ve tended to just move on from these stories since the initial discussions about the nominations, but the word ‘snub’ caught my eye since I don’t think it’s appropriate in this case.
My thing is that every year people talk about “snubs” and it’s always just a matter of opinion. Many people shared the opinion that these were snubs. These are people who are basing their opinion on the movie itself as well as other awards recognition leading up to this. Why are people caring so much about these ones?
I can’t answer for anyone else, but I simply didn’t think the film deserved the critical adulation it received (I felt this about Boyhood as well). ‘Snub’ is overused every awards season, and I think it should be reserved for cases where for whatever reasons an artist is truly being punished due to industry politics (like Spielberg). What is troubling to me is that the director is making the matter worse by indicating that she thinks she wasn’t nominated and isn’t getting more work due to her gender and race, and the actor thinks there’s ‘much work to be done’ and thinks’we’ need something like Germany’s memorials in America (he’s British). I think these two do have talent but I think they are hurting their careers with this talk.
The studio didn’t send screeners to the guilds. They dropped the ball. End of story.
These people are so entitled to talk about “snubs”.
Really?
Selma was not even one of the five best films this year.
Many people beg to differ. People talk about snubs EVERY year. It’s not entitlement. Was everyone who was angry about no Lego Movie nom also entitled?
Yes, I think Phil and Lord acted entitled.
And DuVerney really needs a reality check if she thinks she made a film in the same league of Birdman, Imitation Game or Boyhood.
Selma is good, but it’s also a by-the-numbers Oscar bait. Nothing in her directing outstanding. It’s competent, well-done.
Perhaps when she is as good as a director as Morten Tyldum, she’ll get offers. Or her her ego is not so much bigger than her talent.
They were not allowed to use MLK’s words due to copyrights held by MLK’s family. That alone probably killed its chances. It like using Rutles music in a film about The Beatles.
I also think it is interesting that MLK, Coretta Scott King and LBJ were all played by Brits.