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The Historical Record and the American Imaginary: Adapting History in Selma
- Black Camera
- Indiana University Press
- Volume 10, Number 2, Spring 2019
- pp. 195-210
- 10.2979/blackcamera.10.2.15
- Article
- Additional Information
Abstract:
Selma (dir. Ava DuVernay, 2014) is a historical film that has raised a number of criticisms on account of its narrative of the civil rights movement. Ava DuVernay has enhanced the agency of Martin Luther King as a leader who resisted President Lyndon B. Johnson and organized collective action in Selma. She has revised the conventions of the biopic as a slice-of-life narrative focusing on place rather than on an individual, pointing out the legacy of the past over the present through visuals that refer to slavery.