Paramount Home Media Distribution plans on giving free copies of the Martin Luther King Jr. biopic, Selma to every high school in the US.
In a press release Megan Colligan, president of worldwide distribution and marketing for Paramount Pictures, said, “We hope to reach all 18 million high school students with the film’s powerful and inspiring story.”
Director Ava DuVernay also commented, “To think that this triumphant story of dignity and justice will be available to every high school in this country is a realization of many dreams and many hopes.”
DuVernay’s groundbreaking work was one of the most critically acclaimed motion pictures of 2014 (despite the lack of Oscar nominations). While there have been many films that have attempted to capture the complexity of the Civil Rights Movement and its leaders, very few have the brilliance of Selma.
Not only is King Jr. depicted as a human figure, but the women involved in the movement are also highlighted, which is an all-too-rare occurence in the few films that cover the movement. Black history is often isolated to one month when students are taught the same basic mythologized facts. Hopefully, with movies like Selma combined with the rise of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, black history will take its rightful place in the annals of American history.
Image c/o Paramount
