Selma, Ava DuVernay’s historical epic drama film depicting the struggles and political obstacles surrounding the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches, has been receiving awesome reviews and thumbs up all around. That’s why it comes as a shock to many that the film was left out of the SAG Nominations this year.
Prior to the nominees being announced, the L.A. Times stated that Selma screened late for SAG voters, and didn’t send screeners at all, which shouldn’t matter, but when other campaigns are sending out DVD packs and “even cupcakes,” every bit of butt-kissing helps.
In addition to that, the Screen Actors Guild is made up of working actors, who may be more inclined to vote for those they’ve worked with before. The issue with the cast of Selma is that it contains quite a few new faces, from leads David Oyelowo and Carmen Ejogo to the young faces who play Dr. King’s fellow activists, such as Dear White People star, Tessa Thompson. Clearly the cast doesn’t have to all be movie stars and A-listers to get a SAG Ensemble nod, we all remember Slumdog Millionaire after all, but it can certainly give you that extra push and help you stand out in a year where no consensus has been established on the year’s best film.
After weeks of people going on and on that Selma would be a shoo-in for best-picture, unforeseen underdog status might not hurt. As Selma goes on to screen and impress viewers and critics alike, it still has the chance to make the case that SAG dropped the ball. We’ll just have to sit back and see how this plays out.
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