‘Selma’ didn’t get screeners out in time for SAG awards consideration: director

TORONTO – The director of “Selma” says the critically acclaimed film didn’t get any Screen Actors Guild nominations because committee members weren’t able to see it before the deadline.

“We didn’t get the film done on time,” Ava DuVernay said in an interview Wednesday, just hours after the SAG nominations came out. “You have to send out screeners to be nominated and we just weren’t in the game on that one.”

“Selma” stars British actor David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr., during civil rights marches in Alabama that led to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The star-studded ensemble cast also includes Tom Wilkinson as U.S. President Lyndon Johnson, Carmen Ejogo as King’s wife, Coretta, and Oprah Winfrey as Annie Lee Cooper.

Written by Paul Webb, the civil rights drama that hits theatres in Canada on Jan. 9 has received rave reviews so far: Variety has praised “Oyelowo’s graceful, majestic lead performance,” the American Film Institute has named it among its top movies of the year, and the National Board of Review has given it a “freedom of expression” award.

“Selma” has also earned five nominations for the Film Independent Spirit Awards and eight NAACP Image Award nods, including acting honours.

When the SAG nominations came out Wednesday morning, headlines swirled over why “Selma” was absent from the list.

But DuVernay said it was simply a case of the film not being done in time for SAG awards consideration.

“We’ve since screened it for a few SAG members and the response has been overwhelming standing ovations, and so actors are really respecting the work that was done by our cast, especially David,” said DuVernay, who also worked with Oyelowo on 2012’s “Middle of Nowhere,” for which she won the best director award at the Sundance Film Festival.

“But no, not in time for that particular contest. Darn, but kudos to the nominees. They were all great.”

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