Ava DuVernay (Photo : Reuters)
The director of "Selma" Ava DuVernay has created history for being the first African-American woman to be nominated for the Golden Globe Awards in the Best Director category. In case she manages to pull off a win with her Martin Luther King Jr. biopic, she will be the first African-American man or woman to do so in the history of the Golden Globes, which spans more than 70 years.
Oyelowo, who enacted the part of Martin Luther King Jr. has also been lauded for his stellar performance and has also been nominated for the Best Actor in a Drama at the prestigious awards. Oprah Winfrey was one of the producers of the film and her contribution to the film is also outstanding. DuVernay, used to be a Hollywood publicist before she jumped on to the directors' bandwagon and her experience in dealing with people of all ages and accomplishments came in very handy while shooting the movie, as she had to deftly manage heavy-weights and newcomers both in this epic movie.
"Selma" is going to release on Friday and the buzz around it is pretty strong. If it performs well at the Golden Globes then it could be in the running for the Best Picture Category at the Academy Awards as well.
However, despite all the accolades, the director is facing a lot of flak for her portrayal of President Lyndon Johnson in the movie. In her defense, Ava says that she is not a historian, who needs to stick to the facts but rather she is a story-teller and thus she had the liberty to make an interesting film at the cost of a few facts.
